


you and i / we are young

by milkywei



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Gen, Graduation Trip, M/M, friendship fic, ot5 third years, with a dash of relationship problems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23560786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkywei/pseuds/milkywei
Summary: To celebrate their final year of high school, the Karasuno quintet decide to go on a graduation trip to Osaka to make memories together one last time before going on their separate paths. Put together four dorks and one Yachi, this trip is definitely going to be a chaotic one.During the trip, they reminisce on the times that they have spent together from their first year of high school up until now. However, they come to realise that there are many implications to graduation and that perhaps they are not as prepared for the real world as they thought they would be.It is scary to not know what to expect in the future, but they will learn to navigate through their fears and insecurities together.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio & Tsukishima Kei & Yachi Hitoka & Yamaguchi Tadashi, Kageyama Tobio/Tsukishima Kei, Yachi Hitoka/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 101





	1. Hinata Shouyo's first flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic would take place after spring nationals and before graduation. it is also in the same verse as my tsukikage fake-dating!au so tsukikage and yamayachi are kinda established relationships. you don't have to read that fic to understand it (but i guess it would give a bit of context ehe).

“Nii-chan, how long will you be away?” Natsu asks her brother as he drops his large duffel on the genkan and plops down next to it to wear his shoes.

“I’m only gonna be away for 4 days,” Hinata assures his younger sister. “Take care of mom for me. I’ll be back before you know it, alright?”

Natsu’s pout turns into a smile and then a giggle when Hinata fondly messes up her hair. “Shouyo, have you gotten everything? You’re always forgetting something,” his mother chides him.

“ _Yes, mom_ ,” Hinata grumbles. “I made sure I packed everything.”

His mother produces his wallet from her back and raises an eyebrow. Hinata gasps and quickly snatches the wallet from his mother. “I’m worried for your friends,” his mother sighs.

“Mom! I’ll take care of myself, I promise,” Hinata assures his mother with a pout.

A car honks outside the house and Hinata perks up immediately. “They’re here!”

“Tobio nii-chan!” Natsu cheers, running out before Hinata can get her to wear her slippers.

Akiteru is standing outside his car to help Hinata with his bag while three other boys stay inside. Kageyama rolls down the window to greet Natsu with a smile. “Hi, Natsu-chan.”

“Hey, don’t steal my younger sister’s adoration from me!” Hinata scolds him.

“Tobio nii-chan, please buy me lots of presents!” Natsu requests with shining eyes. Her cuteness makes Kageyama chuckle.

“Natsu!” Hinata cries, looking at his mother to take the little girl away.

His mother laughs and pries Natsu away from Kageyama. “Natsu, you can’t force Tobio nii-chan to buy you gifts,” she lightly tells her daughter off.

“Ahh… she’s so cute,” Akiteru gushes. “Reminds me of my own younger brother when he was little.”

“ _Aniki_ ,” Tsukishima calls out flatly. “Yachi is already waiting at the airport.”

Hinata kisses both his mother and his sister’s cheeks before he bades them goodbye and gets into the car. He keeps waving goodbye to them even as the car drives off.

“Kei, remember when you used to be that cute?” Akiteru sighs as he is driving. Tsukishima proceeds to ignore his older brother, opting to look out the window instead.

“I don’t remember him being that cute in third grade,” Yamaguchi pipes.

“Has he ever been cute, Akiteru nii-san?” Kageyama adds on.

Tsukishima glares at both snickering boys from the rearview mirror. “I can’t believe I’m gonna be stuck with you two for four days,” he mutters.

As everyone except Tsukishima laughs, Hinata peeks at the side-mirror from where he is sitting behind Tsukishima. For all of his grumbling, Hinata catches a fond smile on the golden haired boy’s lips.

* * *

Hinata’s eyes light up in wonder when they reach Sendai airport. He has never taken a flight before so he has never had any reason to go to the airport. Yachi is waiting with her mother at the departure terminal and she waves when she sees them.

“Man, you guys are really going on a graduation trip with a girl,” Akiteru says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“ _Ew_ , what are you talking about? Yachi’s like a sister to me,” Tsukishima retorts. “Anyway, she’s also Yamaguchi’s girlfriend so _please_.”

“And you already have Tobio, _yes I get it_ ,” Akiteru laughs. “Hinata, are you really going to be fifth wheeling during this trip?”

“Eh, fifth wheeling?” Hinata blinks at Akiteru owlishly.

Yamaguchi laughs. “Don’t worry, nobody’s gonna get left out. We’re gonna have so much fun together.”

To be honest, Hinata is not that worried about feeling left out. He just wants to see his friends happy and when they are happy, it makes him happy too.

But he thinks that they may have a problem.

For some reason, he feels that something is up with Tsukishima and Kageyama. Usually they would be joined by the hip but today they look very distant from each other. Kageyama has been walking next to Hinata, quietly looking around the airport, while Tsukishima is walking next to Akiteru on the other side. He hopes that it is just his imagination and that he is just reading too much into things.

“Hey guys! Here are your boarding passes,” Yachi says, passing their airplane tickets out.

Her mother is standing behind her with her office subordinate, watching her daughter with her arms crossed. “Hitoka-chan, remember that you’re on break too. Make sure you don’t end up being their manager.”

She shifts her eyes to the four boys taking the trip with her and they straighten up immediately. “Boys, I entrust the safety of my Hitoka-chan to you. Make sure you give her the most memorable graduation trip of her life,” her mother says coldly, her intimidating aura scaring even Akiteru and her subordinate.

Yamaguchi yelps when Yachi’s mother glares daggers in his direction. “Especially you, Tadashi-kun,” she adds. “No funny business when the two of you are alone.”

The freckled boy is shaking in fright but he manages a salute to her. “Yes, maam.”

“ _No funny business when the two of you are alone_ ,” Akiteru whispers to Tsukishima, who turns to look at his brother with a menacing glare.

The five of them bid their guardians goodbye and head over to transit. Hinata feels his heart pounding in his chest as he looks around the terminal with starry eyes. Everything looks so bright and shiny and it fills him with so much excitement.

“Osaka, here we go!” Hinata cheers, raising his arms gleefully.

“Is this your first flight, Hinata-kun?” Yachi asks, looking at Hinata with a big smile.

“Yeah it is!” Hinata beams. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like. We’ve only been on road trips when we went to Tokyo.”

“It’s nothing special,” Kageyama tells him, hands stuffed in the pockets of his windbreaker. “By the way, you’ll need to take off your shoes before you enter the plane.”

Yachi looks at him in confusion but Hinata perks up at this interesting information. “Oh? I didn't know that! Will they be providing house slippers on the airplane too?” the orange haired boy asks curiously.

Before Yachi can say anything, Yamaguchi has put a hand over her mouth and smiles as he provides an innocent reply to Hinata. “Yup! Their slippers are so comfortable and you can bring them home too.”

“I have tons of them at home,” Kageyama adds on, his expression flat.

Yachi gives Yamaguchi a look when he snickers. They are not even out of Miyagi yet and Yamaguchi and Kageyama are already up to no good.

Nobody would ever imagine that awkward Yamaguchi and serious Kageyama would make annoying partners in crime. The both of them seem to have replaced Tanaka and Nishinoya in terms of mischievous activity and she has had to listen to complaints from several kouhais about their captain and vice-captain playing pranks on them. She sighs as she thinks about what a chaotic trip they would have.

She turns to look at Tsukishima, who is quietly walking next to them. There seems to be something off about him that she cannot quite put a finger on. She wonders if it has something to do with the distance between him and Kageyama.

Their flight number gets called for boarding so they head straight to the boarding gate. Hinata is bouncing on his feet as he waits behind Tsukishima to get his boarding pass checked. Kageyama was supposed to sit next to the tall middle blocker but he has asked Hinata to swap seats with him instead.

“What’s up with you and Tsukishima?” Hinata whispers to Kageyama, lest Tsukishima hears them. Thankfully, the boy has his headphones on.

The raven-haired boy looks expressionless as he glances at Tsukishima’s back. “He just… has a lot in his head,” Kageyama vaguely replies.

Hinata contemplates between pressing further or leaving it be. Ultimately, he chooses the latter because Kageyama does not look like he wants to talk about it.

“Next!”

Hinata steps up and presents his boarding pass. The attendant checks his pass and lets him through. He giddily walks ahead, getting ready to take off his shoes as Kageyama and Yamaguchi had told him to (Kageyama even reminded him again when they were queuing up). 

“Um… Sir? Why are you taking your shoes off? Please put them back on,” the flight attendant at the door of the plane says.

“Eh? I don’t need to take them off?” Hinata looks at her in confusion. The flight attendant vehemently shakes her head.

He finally realises that this is all a prank when he hears laughter from behind him. Kageyama and Yamaguchi are holding their stomachs as they are laughing their asses off at him. Hinata turns bright red, quickly putting his shoes back on and plotting his revenge at the same time.

Tsukishima is looking at him as he settles down in the middle seat with a grumble. “Did Kageyama ask to switch seats?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Hinata replies, getting more annoyed at the mention of Kageyama’s name.

Tsukishima chuckles at the look on his face. “Did he and Yamaguchi tell you that you had to take off your shoes?”

“Yeah,” he mutters, crossing his arms to his chest. “I’m gonna get back at them! Tsukishima, tell me what their weaknesses are.”

Tsukishima gives him an amused look. “Why should I tell you?”

“Because Yachi would never betray Yamaguchi and you know the both of them best,” Hinata tells him.

The golden haired boy raises an eyebrow. “And you think I would turn my back on the both of them?”

“Yes,” Hinata replies without hesitation.

“You’re using Tsukishima to get back at me? _Amateur_ ,” Kageyama teases with the most obnoxious smirk on his face as he takes the seat next to Hinata.

They both continue to bicker while Tsukishima starts to scoot himself further and further away from them. The announcement comes onto the speakers of the plane, telling its passengers to watch and listen closely to the safety demonstration. 

Hinata watches everything with wide eyes and intent because who knows if he might get into an emergency situation? It is never too much to always be prepared! When the announcement ends, he turns to his side to see Kageyama already fast asleep.

Hinata makes a face at him and proceeds to give the safety belt over his waist a double check.

“First time flying?” Tsukishima asks.

“Yeah,” Hinata looks at his safety belt with a frown. Something seems very wrong. “Hey, Tsukishima. How do I tighten my safety belt?”

The boy beside him rolls his eyes and pulls at the end of Hinata’s safety belt, easily tightening it. “I thought you were watching the safety demonstration.”

“Well, I couldn’t _see_ much,” Hinata retorts. “Anyway, you look like you’ve taken a lot of flights before.”

“Yeah. My family went for a lot of holidays when I was in elementary school,” Tsukishima tells him. “It gets a bit boring after awhile. Also, the pressure when the plane takes off sucks.”

He digs around his pocket and takes out a pack of strawberry gummies. “Here, you can chew on this to lessen the pressure on your ears.”

Hinata takes the gummy and pops it into his mouth. Between Tsukishima and Kageyama, he is more likely to trust Tsukishima now. Said boy glances at the sleeping Kageyama before looking back out the window. 

Hinata’s heart throbs excitedly in his chest as the plane starts to move. He also turns to look at the window, ready to watch the plane soar into the air. Sure enough, his ears ring when the plane starts to ascend but chewing the sweet helps to lessen the ringing.

Hinata gasps as he looks at the view from the top. The buildings look like figurines and the vast fields of the countryside look like a patched green blanket. He wonders if he can see his house from this high.

Eventually they get high enough to reach the clouds and Hinata lets out a small _‘woah’_ . He never thought that the clouds would look _that_ fluffy. It is as if he is looking at a bed of cotton amidst the light blue sky. 

Kageyama has started snoring on his other side. Meanwhile, Hinata notes that Tsukishima has not worn his headphones, occupied with looking out the window with his chin resting on his propped arm. He thinks back to what Kageyama said earlier about Tsukishima having a lot going on in his head.

“Hey, Tsukishima?” Hinata calls out in his indoor voice. “What are you thinking about?”

The golden haired boy does not say anything for a while but he eventually looks away from the window and rests his back on his seat. “We’re so far away from Miyagi,” he mumbles.

Hinata looks at him before looking out the window again. _Yeah, we are._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title taken from i don't like mondays - we are young
> 
> hello! i would like to present my humble contribution to the karasuno ot5 content. i really love their dynamics and i really want to explore more of it! (read: i'm a sucker for ot5's friendship!!!!!!)
> 
> hope you will enjoy this ride with me! (♡˙︶˙♡)


	2. Tsukishima Kei plays in the rain

It is late afternoon when they touch down at Osaka Itami airport. Amazingly, Kageyama sleeps throughout the whole journey and only wakes up when the plane has stopped moving. Hinata thinks that that is a different feat altogether.

The flight leaves Hinata restless because he was not able to move for a whole 4 hours and his muscles are all cramped. “It was painful to watch you keep fidgeting in your seat,” Tsukishima comments. “Would it kill you to stay still?”

“Yes it will, Stingyshima!” Hinata retorts, immediately walking away to put some distance between himself and the taller boy.

“Tsukki, you gotta learn how to play nice sometimes, you know?” Yamaguchi laughs as he puts a hand on Tsukishima’s shoulder.

The taller boy rolls his eyes. “He knows that I don’t really mean it.”

After taking their bags, they hop on the train to head over to their accommodation. Hinata plants his palms on the window of the train, in awe of everything he sees. Despite having been to Tokyo many times in his three years of high school, he is still amazed by the metropolitan city. “Hey, Yacchan. What’s the itinerary like today?” Hinata asks, turning to look at Yachi. “Are we going for lunch soon? I’m so hungry!”

“You’ll have to ask Yamaguchi. He’s the one managing the itinerary,” Yachi says, looking at Yamaguchi imploringly.

“Ah, yeah. We’ll head for lunch after putting our bags at our accommodation,” Yamaguchi tells them. “Then we’ll be heading to Arashiyama.”

“More travelling? You’re really gonna kill Hinata,” Tsukishima points out.

Hinata is stunned by the sudden attack but he somewhat agrees with Tsukishima. Even now, he feels a bit cooped up standing in a train. He wants to walk around and explore the area by foot.

“Uh… It’s gonna be the only time that we have though?” Yamaguchi explains. “The rest of our days are going to be quite packed.”

Yachi tiptoes to look at the itinerary beside Yamaguchi. She lets out a small gasp when she looks at the number of things he has planned out for them. “Tadashi, are you sure we even have time to do all of this?” she asks Yamaguchi.

The freckled boy looks back at his itinerary. “We’re doing all of this stuff together. It’s going to be fun,” he reasons.

“Yeah, but it’s a bit too much,” Yachi tells him. “I don’t think we’d even be able to enjoy ourselves at these places because we’d be rushing to go to the next one.”

Hinata, Kageyama and Tsukishima keep themselves quiet as the two continue to talk about the itinerary. The air is suddenly tense and Hinata wishes that they can get off the train soon.

“And these are all places we wanted to go to,” Yamaguchi claims. “Remember I asked everyone the other day?” 

“You can’t just take everybody’s suggestions, Tadashi. We only have 4 days. We can’t do  _ everything _ on this list,” Yachi replies, her voice slightly strained. “Why didn’t you ask me to help you with the planning? You know I would be more than happy to help.”

The boys all look at her with wide eyes. Yachi has just used her manager voice.

Yamaguchi looks to the side, his face red. “I’m sorry. I just thought that if we had more stuff to do we’d be able to make more memories together.”

The mood in the train takes a dip as the five of them are silent. “I’m the one who suggested going to Arashiyama,” Kageyama finally says. “I don’t mind not going. We have too much nature in Karasuno anyway. We can walk around the area instead after getting lunch.”

“Y-yeah!” Hinata agrees. “It doesn’t matter what the place is. I know I’m gonna enjoy it if I’m with you guys.”

His words manage to put a smile on Yamaguchi and Yachi’s faces but they remain quiet. Hinata looks over to where Tsukishima and Kageyama are both looking in different directions, not talking to each other too.  _ Damn _ , Hinata thinks.  _ Now he is really worried about being the fifth wheel _ .

* * *

The awkward air among their group seems to have cleared up a bit when they reach their accommodation – a modest ryokan with its own onsen. They have booked two rooms for themselves. The boys get the bigger room with its own kitchenette and two extra futons. Their room is also connected to an outdoor onsen. Since the rooms near theirs are empty, they get the onsen all to themselves.

Meanwhile, Yachi had immediately walked to her room and said that she would be meeting them at the lobby once she was done. She had given them a smile but even Hinata can tell that it was forced. He drops his bag onto the floor with a sigh. It is a known fact that Yachi hates when her help is not wanted. Especially as the manager of the team, she thinks that there are only so many ways which she can contribute and she always tries to help out where she can.

Hinata looks over to where Yamaguchi is organising the things in his bag. The freckled boy is somewhat of a people pleaser. It is probably because he genuinely wants to make everyone happy. He is also the one who is the most excited about the trip, saying that he has always wanted to take a trip with them (“One where we don’t have to wake up so early in the morning for serving drills!”).

“Hey, Yamaguchi,” Hinata calls out, crouching beside him. “You doing good there, buddy?”

Yamaguchi zips up his back and turns to Hinata with a bright smile. “Yeah, I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?”

Tsukishima is watching him as he gets up and takes his wallet. The golden haired boy looks a bit worried too. Yamaguchi catches his look and lets out a chuckle. “Come on, guys. Are you tired already? We’ve only just begun!”

Kageyama gets up too after Yamaguchi and follows the captain out the door. Hinata and Tsukishima share a look before they get up and leave the room as well.

“Hey, should we have takoyaki? I think I saw a takoyaki place when we were making our way to our ryokan,” Hinata suggests.

The rest of the group hum in agreement. “That sounds great, Hinata. Lead the way!” Yachi beams.

The place that Hinata mentioned is actually a restaurant which allows its customers to cook their own takoyaki. The five of them get very excited at this and get seats without hesitation. They are presented with a hot plate to cook their takoyaki and immediately they look at the menu to order their fillings. Once they have placed their orders, they start betting on who will be the worst at making takoyaki today.

“It’s definitely Hinata, isn’t it?” Tsukishima says. “He’s so impatient that the takoyaki would end up being undercooked.”

“No! I know how to be patient,” Hinata grumbles as Yamaguchi laughs in response to Tsukishima. “I think it’s Kageyama.” Hinata claims.

Kageyama raises an eyebrow at the mention of his name. “Why?”

“I just think you suck,” the orange haired boy supplies.

Before Kageyama can reach over and throw a punch at Hinata, their orders along with the takoyaki batter gets delivered to their table.

“I’ve done this at home before,” Yachi tells them. “You have to make sure that the plate is oiled up really well.”

The boys follow Yachi’s advice and proceed to pour in the batter to the empty holes on the plate. Hinata yelps when he pours in a bit too much into his plate. Kageyama laughs at him. “Who sucks now?”

“Shut up, idiot!” Hinata growls, trying his best to salvage the situation. Good thing Yachi is sitting beside him, as if she knew that she would be needed to fix his mistakes.

Eventually the five of them manage to produce decent looking takoyaki balls and Yachi takes a lot of pictures with her camera. “ _ Itadakimasu! _ ” they say before digging in.

The heat from the freshly cooked takoyaki burns Hinata’s mouth but it tastes  _ so good _ . It does not taste like anything he has ever had in Sendai or even Tokyo. Perhaps takoyaki in Osaka really is different. 

Kageyama is sitting beside him, taking big bites from his takoyaki as well. Hinata takes Yachi’s camera to take a picture of Kageyama’s reaction when he eats a particularly hot takoyaki. Kageyama glares at him but does not do anything else.

“So where are we going after this?” he asks.

The mood in the room takes a dip again. “Well… I didn’t really look up on what’s around the area,” Yamaguchi says.

“We can still take a walk,” Hinata quickly suggests. Yachi hums in agreement.

Tsukishima is looking at his phone. “We’re at Toyonaka aren’t we? The Osaka U campus that offered me the scholarship is here. I’ve been wanting to check it out.”

“Oh, yeah! You got that sports scholarship after spring Nationals,” Yamaguchi says. “I guess it’d be cool to see the school that Tsukki will be going to.”

“I’m still considering,” Tsukishima tells him. “Their offer is until the end of next month anyway and Akaashi-san said that I shouldn’t be too hasty in making my decision.”

“You asked Fukurodani’s setter for his opinion?” Kageyama asks, directly talking to Tsukishima for the first time today.

Everyone seems to be surprised by his question, even Tsukishima. “Well, yeah. He’s in college now anyway so his opinions aren’t baseless,” the golden haired boy replies.

Kageyama does not say anything else, turning his attention back to his food. Hinata lets out a chuckle to clear the air. “Wow, college, huh? I can’t believe we’ve gotten this far. Where are you thinking of going, Yamaguchi?”

“I applied for business at both Tohoku Gakuin and Miyagi University,” Yamaguchi grins. “Though I’m leaning more towards Tohoku Gakuin. It’s much closer to the Tohoku campus which Yachi is applying for.”

“Woah! Yacchan, really?  _ The  _ Tohoku?” Hinata exclaims in awe.

“I just applied but I don’t really know if I’ll get in,” Yachi chuckles shyly. “It’s really competitive and the acceptance rate is really low.”

“I’m sure you’ll get in. You’re really smart!” Hinata assures her. “Right, Kageyama?”

Kageyama nods. “If there is anybody who can get into Tohoku, it’s you and Tsukishima.”

Tsukishima shoots him a look from across the table, eyes looking like they can burn a hole through Kageyama. “You’re thinking of applying to Tohoku too?” Yamaguchi asks his best friend. “You never mentioned that before.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Tsukishima groans. “Anyway, I doubt that I’ll even get in. I don’t think I did so well for the final exam.”

“Have you at least applied?” Yachi asks with a frown. “Didn’t you top your class during the previous midterm? I think you still have a chance.”

“Yeah, Tsukishima. There’s no harm in applying,” Hinata adds.

Tsukishima huffs. “I don’t want to keep my hopes up, okay? Can we just drop this?”

The three of them turn quiet at the harshness of Tsukishima’s voice. He feels a tinge of guilt for having raised his voice but he does not think that he can continue on with that conversation. “Sorry,” is all Tsukishima mumbles and the rest only hum in acknowledgement, knowing that he did not mean to raise his voice. He meets Kageyama’s blue eyes, which are filled with worry. But the raven haired boy quickly masks it with indifference and looks away.

* * *

The five of them are struck with awe when they stand at the main gate of Osaka University’s Toyonaka campus. “This place is huge…” Hinata gasps.

They walk towards the Faculty of Letters, which offers the Archaeology major that Tsukishima is interested in. Hinata, Yachi and Yamaguchi  _ ooh  _ and  _ ahh  _ at every single thing they find interesting. Usually Tsukishima would find it annoying but today he thinks that their presence has made this trip a bit more bearable. He is glad that they are here to accompany him. He simply cannot imagine coming here alone. Kageyama is lagging slightly behind, hands jammed inside the pockets of his windbreaker. Tsukishima is still pissed that Kageyama had brought his name up when they were talking about Tohoku during lunch. The subject is a very iffy thing between the both of them.

When he found out from Takeda-sensei that he was offered a sports scholarship from Osaka University, he was confused. He has never even won Nationals and he did not think that he was even one of the top 10 players for the year. 

“I don’t think they’re wrong in choosing you,” Kageyama had said. 

He was the first person that Tsukishima told after ending his education-career-guidance session with Takeda-sensei. Kageyama was waiting for him at the hallway so that they could walk home together. “You’re really smart and your game sense has improved over the years. You’re a middle blocker but your sets are also good too,” he added.

Tsukishima said that he was biased but Kageyama had raised an eyebrow and told him, “If you sucked, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you.”

His parents and Akiteru were happy when he told them about it and they even encouraged him to take up the offer, saying that it would be good to have an experience outside of his comfort zone. Despite their encouragement, anxiety still crept into the crevices of Tsukishima‘s thoughts.

It is not that Osaka University is not a good school, it is just  _ not  _ in Miyagi.

It was Kageyama who suggested that he applied for Tohoku. “It also has an arch- archae- archaegoly course, right?”

“Archaeology,” Tsukishima had corrected him, smiling at his effort. “But Tohoku has a really low acceptance rate and a lot of great people are going to apply too.”

“So? You’re great too,” Kageyama told him. “I think that you can easily get in.”

Tsukishima doubted that. Ever since then, it became everything they talked about when they spent time with each other and it stressed Tsukishima out to the point that he lashed out at Kageyama and they had a big fight. Kageyama thought that he had what it takes to get into Tohoku and Tsukishima had thought otherwise. This led to Kageyama saying that Tsukishima would have brought this upon himself because he never even tried and Tsukishima accused Kageyama of wanting to decide everything in his life for him again. Their words hurt each other but they could not take them back so they ended up not talking to each other until the day of the trip.

Tsukishima felt so lost without anybody else’s opinion to ask. 

So he phoned Akaashi up in Tokyo and talked to him about it. The older boy himself was studying literature at Tokyo University, something which he had been interested in since high school.

“I think you already know what you want, Tsukishima. What’s holding you back?” Akaashi had asked.

“I think… I want to continue playing volleyball too,” Tsukishima told Akaashi. “Tohoku doesn’t have a collegiate team.”

Akaashi chuckled over the phone. “Well, look at that. I didn’t think I’d hear those words from you.”

His jab made Tsukishima pout but then he sighed. “Osaka’s a bit too far to be playing volleyball.”

“A bit out of your comfort zone, isn’t it?” Akaashi asked.

“Yeah… It’s too far from home,” Tsukishima added. He could never imagine himself being away from Miyagi for too long. 

Despite its quietness, Tsukishima has grown to love Karasuno. He loves how he is able to see the rest of the neighbourhood when he stands outside the gates of his high school. He loves how the sun bathes the tiny neighbourhood in an orange glow when it sets over the horizon. He loves their sweet neighbourhood cat Mako-chan and all of her five kittens. Most of all, he loves how his mother has found herself again in the house she has lovingly made into a home. And he does not think that he can be away from his home and his family for too long.

“You don’t have to make your decision now if you’re not sure. There’s no need to be hasty,” Akaashi had advised him. “You still have time to sort things out.”

The five reach the building for the Faculty of Letters and are taken aback by the size. “Imagine being a student here, I’d get lost just trying to find the toilet,” Hinata shudders.

“I’d pity your small bladder,” Tsukishima says and Yamaguchi has to hold Hinata back from hitting the taller boy.

“Tsukishima-kun, what do you think about this school?” Yachi asks, walking next to Tsukishima.

Tsukishima looks around vacantly. “It’s a nice school, I guess. I read that their archaeology programme goes for field surveys every year. That would be a good learning experience.”

Yachi reaches out for his arm and Tsukishima looks at her as she holds his elbow with a comforting smile. “But you're not ready to step out this far from your comfort zone.”

Tsukishima adjusts his arm so that it is easier for Yachi to hold him. “I’m not,” he echoes.

His eyes land on Kageyama’s broad back, the raven haired boy walking in front of them without much as saying a word. He has been quiet ever since they left the restaurant. 

A part of Tsukishima longs for Kageyama to say something but another part of him does not want to listen to anything he says. Kageyama may not really be his boyfriend (even though they practically did all the couple things after their ‘fake break-up’, they still have not really asked each other out), but he is still one of the most important people in Tsukishima’s life and he values Kageyama’s opinion. 

He just does not think he could handle the other boy’s opinion if it goes against everything Tsukishima has been thinking about.

“Hey, Tsukishima. They offered you a sports scholarship, didn’t they?” Hinata asks. “Let’s go check out their gym!”

The five of them head over to the gymnasium complex, passing by a large baseball field along the way. “They really have all the facilities, don’t they?” Yamaguchi mutters.

“Osaka University has a good reputation in the collegiate leagues anyway,” Yachi says.

The sky is starting to turn a bit grey when they stop in front of the gymnasium complex. There are two big buildings facing each other and further up is a swimming pool. The gymnasiums are separated by a walkway with a fountain in between.

One of the doors of the gym is open so the five take a peek inside. It is a very big gym with several courts. It is probably to accommodate the big team that Osaka U has and Tsukishima has no doubt that there would be a first string and second string system judging by how reputable Osaka U is. 

“The floors are just like the ones at the Tokyo Gymnasium!” Hinata gasps. Even Kageyama is looking in with a sparkle in his eyes.

“Woah, imagine holding practices here,” Yamaguchi mutters.

“One manager wouldn’t be enough to keep track of all their progress,” Yachi adds, her stomach churning at the thought of it.

“Hitoka, are you alright?” Yamaguchi looks at her with concern.

“I think… I need some air,” Yachi groans, leaning towards Yamaguchi. Her boyfriend chuckles as he holds her.

“We’ll be outside,” Yamaguchi tells the group, leading Yachi out.

Hinata looks between Tsukishima and Kageyama and nudges Kageyama with his elbow. Kageyama glares at him but Hinata glares back, not backing down.  _ Talk to him, idiot _ , Hinata threatens him with his eyes.

The raven haired boy reaches out to hit him but Hinata quickly slips out before Kageyama can reach him. He lets out a resigned sigh and turns to look at where Tsukishima is staring vacantly into the gym.

Kageyama clears his throat, getting Tsukishima’s attention albeit awkwardly. “So, what do you think?” he asks.

“I guess it’d be nice to play volleyball here…” Tsukishima mutters. He lets out a long sigh as he looks at the floor. “Who am I even kidding? This is such a great offer and my parents and nii-chan keep saying that it would be such a good experience. But the thought of spending four years away from them gives me so much anxiety and I’m losing sleep just thinking-”

He gets cut off from his rambling when Kageyama presses a kiss to his temple. “You think too hard. Don’t think so hard,” Kageyama whispers.

“You’re allowed to step out of your comfort zone at your own pace. You don’t have to take up the scholarship if you don’t want to. You can just apply for universities near home and it doesn’t necessarily have to be Tohoku.”

Tsukishima looks at Kageyama, amber pupils shaky and blown. “I want to keep playing volleyball too,” he finally tells Kageyama.

The raven haired boy is startled but he smiles. “We can find a club in Miyagi that you can try out for. Any division that you feel comfortable with.”

Tsukishima nods, feeling like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. “Do you really think that I can get into Tohoku?”

“Kei, I know I’m not the smartest when it comes to studying,” Kageyama tells him. “But please believe me when I tell you that I have  _ no doubt _ that you have what it takes for Tohoku.”

His blue eyes are so clear and full of determination and Tsukishima feels warmth stirring in his chest just knowing that Kageyama has his full belief in him.

“Your opinion really matters to me, you know?” Tsukishima tells him, taking Kageyama’s hand.

Kageyama chuckles as he intertwines their fingers together. “I know. I also know that all your bratty tantrums are just a cry for attention.”

Tsukishima kicks him in the shin.

* * *

It is drizzling when the both of them step out from the sheltered area of the gym. Tsukishima sighs wistfully at the weather, feeling regretful for not having packed an umbrella. He spent some time styling his hair today too and he definitely does not want to mess it up. Kageyama is looking somewhere in the distance and he points to what looks like three kids running around the fountain. “Isn’t that Hinata, Yamaguchi and Yacchan?” he points out.

_ Oh. Those are their three kids. _

“Tsukishima! Kageyama! Yamaguchi has gone crazy!” Hinata yells out to them.

Kageyama is about to walk over but Tsukishima stops him. “It’s raining!” he hisses.

“So?” Kageyama asks.

“We don’t have an umbrella. You’re gonna catch a cold,” Tsukishima warns him.

“I don’t get sick easily,” Kageyama declares, shrugging off his windbreaker and placing it over Tsukishima’s head with a smirk. “You’re just worried to mess up your pretty hair.”

Tsukishima huffs as Kageyama laughs and slips his hand into his once again, pulling him along. The three hyperactive kids are apparently chasing each other in the rain. Hinata and Yachi are yelling as Yamaguchi is chasing after them. 

Yamaguchi is drenched from head to toe. His long hair has been loose from the small ponytail he always ties it up into, making him look like he has a clump of seaweed on his head. Judging from how soaking wet his clothes are, Tsukishima deduces that Yamaguchi must have fallen inside the fountain.

“Oh my god, they’re fucking crazy,” Tsukishima mutters, watching as Yamaguchi tries to push Hinata into the fountain next.

“Looks like he needs help,” Kageyama says, letting go of Tsukishima’s hand and jogging towards where Hinata is trying to fight Yamaguchi off. Tsukishima raises an eyebrow, surprised that Kageyama is actually looking out for Hinata for once. Yachi has run over to Tsukishima. “Hinata accidentally tripped and pushed Yamaguchi into the fountain,” Yachi reports.

Tsukishima is not even surprised. “Sounds like something Hinata would do.”

“Yeah, but after that Yamaguchi just started chasing after us,” Yachi whimpers, holding onto Tsukishima’s arm for dear life. “He said if he goes down, everyone else goes down with him.”

_ Sounds like exactly what Yamaguchi would say _ , Tsukishima shudders as he is reminded of Captain Yamaguchi’s reign throughout the year (The captain position must be jinxed – he never thought sweet Yamaguchi would turn out to be a scary captain just like Sawamura and Ennoshita).

The two of them watch the chaotic scene unfold before them, glad that the other three have such one-track mindsets and are too focused on each other at the moment.

“Kageyama!” Hinata’s eyes brighten when Kageyama approaches them. “Help me take the seaweed monster down!”

“Seaweed monster?! That’s it, you tangerine head!” Yamaguchi growls, wet hair making him look like a grumpy sea witch.

He has Hinata at the edge of the fountain but the shorter boy is still managing to hold on. Despite his short stature, Hinata has packed some muscle over the years and he is almost as strong as Kageyama, but Yamaguchi can also be quite persistent when he is in his scary captain mode.  _ It is like watching two kaiju fight with each other. _

It is so fascinating that Tsukishima actually wants to know the outcome of this struggle. 

He half expects Kageyama to pull them both away from each other since he is there to lend a hand but what comes next is not much of a surprise anymore.

Tsukishima and Yachi cannot help but snort when Hinata splashes into the fountain after getting pushed in by Kageyama. The orange haired boy lets out a frustrated yell as both Kageyama and Yamaguchi laugh at him. Kageyama does not laugh for long however because Hinata yanks him down by the arm and he falls into the water with a big splash too. 

“Hinata, you idiot!” Kageyama shrieks and Tsukishima and Yachi both snicker from where they are watching the three idiots.

Their snickering seems to have drawn the attention of said idiots because they have turned their heads to Tsukishima and Yachi’s direction. Both of them feel chills running down their spines as the three flash them a menacing grin. “Hitoka! Why are you so far away?” Yamaguchi calls out.

“Kei, come on over!” Kageyama adds.

Tsukishima and Yachi end up fleeing as the three drenched boys start to give chase. Kei still has Kageyama’s windbreaker over his head and he is holding on to it for dear life as he runs in the rain.

He hears Yachi let out a loud shriek and Tsukishima gasps when he sees that she has been caught by both Hinata and Yamaguchi. They are both carrying her to the fountain despite her resistance and protests and they drop her feet first into the water before proceeding to splash more water at her.

Tsukishima lets out an embarrassing yelp when Kageyama catches him from behind, slipping his arm underneath the taller boy’s legs and carrying him bridal style. Tsukishima immediately wraps his arms around Kageyama’s neck, terrified of being dropped. The devious grin on his face is a tell tale sign of what he is thinking about. “Don’t you fucking dare!” Tsukishima hisses, squirming at Kageyama’s wet clothes.

The raven haired boy ignores his warning and pushes the windbreaker off Tsukishima’s head to mess his hair up and expose it to the rain. The dying shriek of despair Tsukishima lets out as he presses his face against Kageyama’s neck is so hilarious that Hinata, Yamaguchi and Yachi are laughing at him. Kageyama laughs too, calmly walking over to the fountain as if he is not carrying a fully-grown boy in his arms. 

“TOBIO, PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!” Tsukishima yells but in vain.

Kageyama drops him into the fountain and Tsukishima gasps as he hits the cold water ass first. His hair is a definite mess and his glasses are all blurry from the water droplets but he hears someone laughing and from the way that Kageyama is looking at him, he realises that it is  _ him _ .

“I miss that sound,” Kageyama says to him in such a gentle voice that Tsukishima feels himself flush.

“Tobio, you fucking idiot,” Tsukishima chides him but he is smiling too wide for it to be considered a threat.

Kageyama laughs and joins him in the fountain to pull him up and kiss him square on the lips. The three onlookers hoot and cheer as the two of them finally reconcile but their cheers do not last long because Tsukishima and Kageyama begin to splash water at them the moment they pull away from each other. The five of them continue to engage in a splash war until the rain starts to get even heavier and they immediately jump out of the fountain to run for shelter.

Tsukishima has his hand in Kageyama’s as they are running but Tsukishima tugs on his arm to get his attention and Kageyama turns to him in confusion when the golden haired boy stops. Tsukishima cups Kageyama’s face and presses his lips onto the raven-haired boy’s smile, uncaring of the rain falling down on them. Screw it, his hair is already a mess anyway.

Kageyama kisses him back readily, his hands on Tsukishima’s back. When they pull away, Kageyama lets out a chuckle. “Guess you can tick off ‘kissing in the rain’ from your list of romantic cliches.”

“Shut up, king,” Tsukishima replies, rolling his eyes as Kageyama laughs and kisses him again.

* * *

They are exhausted and crappy the moment they reach their ryokan and even the lady at the lobby gives them a nasty look at how they are dripping water all over the floor.

The boys part with Yachi and plan to meet at the lobby for dinner, but after spending an hour and a half at the onsen, they are just too exhausted to go out again. They decide to call in a delivery from a nearby restaurant and Yachi joins them at their room for dinner.

Yachi and Yamaguchi discuss the itinerary again over dinner while Hinata is sprawled out on the floor reading the latest copy of Volleyball Monthly.

“Hey, Kageyama. The interview you did last month for Volleyball Monthly is out,” Hinata says, showing Kageyama the page.

The spread is titled ‘ _ 10 Things You Didn't Know About Kageyama Tobio: Japan’s Teenage Rising Star _ ’. The picture the magazine used is of Kageyama walking to his position during the Prefectural Spring Tournament Finals. He looks calm, mysterious even, and his broad shoulders are confident and show no signs of nerves. He is the perfect poster boy for Japan’s National U19 Team.

“I still can’t believe that you’re going for the National U19 training camp straight after graduation,” Hinata says as he is reading the magazine. “Oh, do your parents know about this?”

Kageyama shrugs. “They’ve both been going to different countries and are never around at the same time. It’s a bit troublesome to tell one and not the other. So I guess I’ll just wait until the both of them are in the same place.”

Hinata hums and goes back to the magazine. “They forgot to add that you’re a complete jerk,” he mumbles and yelps when Kageyama throws a pillow at his face.

Tsukishima avoids the battlefield zone and settles on Kageyama’s other side with his laptop. “I’m sending in my application for Tohoku,” he tells Kageyama. “Takeda-sensei said that he’d be happy to be my referee and sent me a recommendation letter within ten minutes of me telling him that I was applying.”

“See? So many people see your potential,” Kageyama says, wrapping an arm around Tsukishima’s waist.

“I believe in you too, Tsukishima!” Hinata pipes.

“Me too!” Yachi adds just as excitedly.

“Me too,” Yamaguchi grins.

Tsukishima hides his smile behind his laptop and clicks on the  _ ‘Submit’  _ button on the bottom of the page.

_ Thank you for submitting your application for Tohoku University’s Undergraduate Programme. We will be reviewing your application and will contact you on the outcome. Have a good day. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for the comments and kudos! i'm glad that you guys are looking forward to ot5 too! ; - ;
> 
> i got a bit carried away writing tsukki's chapter lol but i wanted each of them to have their own chapter where they figure out how to navigate past it. but why is hinata's chapter so short, you may ask? the reason for that will come out towards the end hehe
> 
> next chapter belongs to our resident good boy yamaguchi!


	3. Yamaguchi Tadashi takes a brave step forward

The next day, they have an early start and make their way to Universal Studios. The mood is much lighter after Kageyama and Tsukishima reconciled – they are bumping shoulders when they think that nobody is watching them. Hinata even catches Kageyama whispering something into Tsukishima’s ear, making the taller boy blush and cover his eyes with his hand (He is wearing contacts today). 

He thinks that it is sickeningly cute and Hinata admits that he would rather see this than having them pretend the other does not exist.

He is also the most excited for the day today. Universal Studios was his top suggestion when he sent his list over to Yamaguchi. He keeps hearing about it from other friends who have already gone and today is finally the day he gets to see what all the hype is about. He hopes he can get something for Natsu here too.

When their train passes by the theme park on the way to the station, they all look at it in wonder. “This place is huge,” Kageyama mutters. “Would we be able to cover everything?”

“Good thing we have the whole day today!” Hinata beams. “You two did a great job on the new itinerary, by the way.”

Yachi grins and holds up a peace sign while Yamaguchi only flashes a small smile. The both of them had spent the whole of dinner last night replanning the itinerary. Even though Yachi had looked so excited to be able to bust out her planning skills, Yamaguchi still felt bad for making her clean up after his mess. 

This would not be the first time Yamaguchi’s poor planning has gotten in the way of something. Taking over as Karasuno’s captain during his third year meant that he had a sharp learning curve to overcome. Though Ennoshita was still always a call or a text away, it did not help that pressure made him frazzled. 

In his third month of captaincy, he messed up the team’s schedule for practice matches with other schools and Yachi had to step in and redo the whole thing.

“You could have asked Yachi to help you if you felt overwhelmed,” Tsukishima had scolded him. “If you’re scared of burdening Yachi, you could have asked me too.”

Yamaguchi sighed. “Then I would always be a bother to you guys…”

“Don’t be like that,” his best friend chided. “I’m here for you to bother me.”

Tsukishima would never say things he did not mean, and it reassured Yamaguchi for a while. But lately with graduation looming and everyone talking about going on their separate paths, he has been doing a lot of thinking. What if he never learns how to stand on his own two feet?

When they reach the premises of the park, Hinata runs off first with Kageyama chasing after him upon being taunted. Tsukishima sighs. “This is probably how parents tire their hyperactive kids out when they don’t want to deal with them at the end of the day.”

“Thank god you’re now the only one dealing with Kageyama’s clinginess when he sleeps,” Yamaguchi chuckles.

“Kageyama’s clingy in his sleep?” Yachi asks, genuinely surprised. The setter is a prickly porcupine if anything. She remembers how it took him  _ so long _ to get used to high fives.

Tsukishima nods as he grimaces. “During our first training camp, he nearly choked Tanaka-san in his sleep. After that, we would draw lots during every training camp to decide who would sleep next to Kageyama. It was Sugawara-san’s idea.”

“It became something like a club tradition,” Yamaguchi explains. “The only person who doesn’t know about it is Kageyama.”

Tsukishima jumps when Yamaguchi smacks his back with a grin. “Thanks for taking one for the team, Tsukki!”

“How unfortunate for me,” Tsukishima replies, his smile betraying the flatness of his voice.

“Guys! Let’s take a picture here!” Hinata yells, pointing to the big Universal Studios globe sculpture near the entrance.

Yachi takes out her camera and angles it for a selfie. From the LCD screen, she sees that the boys are scattered at different positions so that they are not blocking the sculpture. “Okay- 3, 2, 1!”

There is a sudden gust of wind and she hears some noises behind her when the shutter goes off. Yachi takes a look at the picture as the noises turn into squabbling and she cannot help but laugh. 

Kageyama has kicked Hinata’s butt, making him yowl and jump. Tsukishima’s hands are a blur as he was moving them to block his perfectly styled hair from the wind while Yamaguchi tries to give Yachi bunny ears.

They are such a mess. 

Yachi thinks this picture is perfect.

“I’m sending this to the kouhais!”

* * *

Universal Studios really has the power to bring out everyone’s inner kid. Even Tsukishima’s eyes are sparkling as they walk through the set-ups which look like something out of an American movie. Yachi’s camera keeps getting passed among the boys and she prays for the storage in the memory card because Hinata does not understand the concept of  _ single-shots _ .

Yamaguchi gets a map from one of the park attendants and they crowd around him to take a look together. “We definitely need to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!” Yachi pipes and Tsukishima nods vehemently.

“Sounds like a plan!” Hinata replies, genuinely excited to go just  _ anywhere _ . “By the way, what is it about?”

He feels a chill run down his spine when both Yachi and Tsukishima give him the most judgemental look. “What do you mean ‘ _ what is it about _ ’?” Tsukishima mutters.

Hinata gulps. “I’ve… never heard of Harry Potter before?” he replies to which Yachi and Tsukishima gasp.

They both look at each other then to their respective significant others. Yamaguchi bashfully rubs his nape while Kageyama pretends to be distracted by a kid running after bubbles. “Tsukishima, this is a tragedy,” Yachi whispers to Tsukishima.

“A real tragedy indeed,” Tsukishima echoes.

They are  _ definitely  _ having a Harry Potter movie night later.

Yachi and Tsukishima all but drag everyone to the direction of Harry Potter world. They pass by Universal Wonderland along the way and decide to make a stop and have a look. Yachi gasps when she sees a mascot of Snoopy and drags Tsukishima and Kageyama with her to take pictures, mentioning something about the two of them needing more cute pictures together.

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi follows Hinata into a gift shop because he wants to scout for Natsu’s souvenir. “Man, Natsu would love this place,” Hinata says, picking up a cute Hello Kitty keychain. “But I think it might take me awhile to save up if I wanna bring her here.”

Yamaguchi looks at Hinata as he inspects the Hello Kitty keychain wistfully. “What are you gonna do after graduation?” he asks.

“Hmm… I haven’t really thought of it yet. I still want to defeat Kageyama but he’s already gone so far,” Hinata replies, a tinge of resentment in his voice. “It made me realise that there is still so much that I need to work on for myself.”

“I want to play beach volleyball in Brazil,” the orange-haired boy admits. “I thought that I should stay here and get a job to help my mom out but she says that I should pursue what I’m passionate about and not worry about her. The more she says that the more I worry.”

Yamaguchi hums. Hinata comes from a single-parent family and his mom works very hard to provide for him and Natsu. They do not often talk about things like these, but Yamaguchi is glad when they do. He knows that behind his bright exterior and optimistic outlook on life, sometimes Hinata has concerns which he keeps to himself.

“Maybe your mom has a point,” Yamaguchi tells him. “Maybe you’ll get so good at volleyball when you play in Brazil because you have so much passion for it. Then when you come back, you’ll get signed to a pro-league club, make lots of money and defeat Kageyama.”

Hinata stops fiddling with the keychain and looks at Yamaguchi. “Do you really think that I can defeat Kageyama?”

“Yeah. Why not?” Yamaguchi shrugs. “You two have this weird relationship where you don’t want to admit that you inspire each other to be better. What’s that all about?”

Hinata laughs, brightening the room with his energy. “You’re really good at making people see the good in themselves, Yamaguchi. Thanks.”

The freckled boy is stunned for a moment but he eventually smiles. “Don’t mention it.”

They leave the shop with Natsu’s souvenir in Hinata’s bag and spot the other three being crowded by a few people near the sidewalk. In actual fact, it looks more like Kageyama is being crowded around and Tsukishima and Yachi are standing at the side. “What’s up?” Hinata asks, curious about the crowd.

“A family recognised Kageyama from his feature on Volleyball Monthly,” Tsukishima replies, his arms crossed to his chest. “Apparently the son and his dad saw our match a few months ago in Tokyo. He’s a big fan.”

They watch as Kageyama poses for a picture with the little boy and later poses for another picture with the little boy’s dad, who looks way too excited to be seeing a volleyball player.

“Why does it look like the dad is an even bigger fan than the son?” Yamaguchi snickers.

“Kageyama’s popularity really knows no bounds, huh?” Yachi giggles.

“He’s even signing on his page in the magazine! Who does he think he is?” Hinata grumbles.

A bunch of giggling girls come up to Kageyama and gush to him about his looks. “You look more handsome in real life as compared to in the magazine! Can we take a picture with you too?”

Tsukishima’s face immediately changes and he walks up to Kageyama, grabbing his arm. “King, enough entertaining your subjects. We need to go now,” he mutters to a surprised Kageyama.

Yamaguchi, Yachi and Hinata laugh as they follow behind a seething Tsukishima and a clueless Kageyama.

They continue on their way to Harry Potter world, where both Yachi’s and Tsukishima’s eyes immediately light up upon seeing the sign at the entrance. Yamaguchi takes in the dark gothic looking houses, impressed with the set-up of the place. 

Of course, he knows a bit about Harry Potter – with how obsessed Yachi and Tsukishima are about the series, it would be  _ impossible  _ for him not to know – but he does not want to tell them that he has not really made any effort to watch the movies (“At least watch the movies, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima had begged him once. “I know you would never even consider reading the books.”).

Yachi is dragging him by the arm to get Butterbeer, the rest following suit. “Is this real beer?” Hinata asks, eyes wide. “Is it okay for us to drink this?”

“It’s not real beer but I really wanna try it!” Yachi says excitedly.

They each get their own cup and get to drinking. Yamaguchi has to admit – whatever that is, it is so damn good. He is confused when Yachi is giggling at him. “What?” He asks.

“You have something on your lips,” Yachi tells him, tiptoeing to wipe his upper lip with a tissue. Yamaguchi decides on something sneaky, grabbing her hand and pressing his lips on hers instead. He chuckles when Yachi turns red, her upper lip now white with foam.

“You got it on you too,” he says, swiping his thumb on Yachi’s lip. 

“What kind of shoujo manga is this?” Kageyama comments boredly.

“Oh, shut up, Kageyama. You’re just as bad with Tsukishima,” Hinata replies, rolling his eyes.

Their first stop is to Gladrags Wizardwear because Yachi insists that they walk around in Hogwarts colours. Yamaguchi listens in as Yachi and Tsukishima debate about something (The best broomstick for each type of player? Broomstick??? Why not just get a vacuum???) while Hinata and Kageyama are just wandering behind them.

As Yamaguchi is listening to their conversation (and tuning out halfway), he realises how similar both Yachi and Tsukishima are. 

He has always been used to Tsukishima’s aloofness because he knows that the taller boy would only care for the people whom he chooses, changing his actions and manner of speech especially for them. On the other hand, Yachi has the biggest heart and cares for anyone that needs it. But when it comes to the people closest to her, everything feels more natural and she does not overthink her actions.

It worries Yamaguchi how used he has gotten to being spoiled by the two.

“Did you take the Sorting Hat quiz?” he overhears Yachi asking Tsukishima.

“Of course I did,” Tsukishima replies. “I got sorted into Slytherin.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Yachi comments with a giggle. “I got Ravenclaw.”

Tsukishima makes an impressed sound. “Ravenclaw? I can definitely see that.”

“Are you guys speaking Japanese?” Kageyama grumbles, placing his chin on Tsukishima’s shoulder, already bored out of his wits. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Yeah! What’s a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw?” Hinata asks.

“We’re talking about our Hogwarts houses,” Yachi explains. “There are four houses that you get sorted into according to your character. I’m in Ravenclaw which represents intelligence and Tsukishima’s in Slytherin which represents ambition.”

Hinata’s eyes widen in interest. “Ooh! What about me? What house am I in?”

Tsukishima and Yachi think for a moment before they both say, “Hufflepuff.”

The orange-haired boy tilts his head at the unfamiliar name. “What does that represent?”

“Kindness… or something like that,” Tsukishima trails off.

“You’re looking down on Hufflepuffs!” Yachi accuses him with a laugh.

The golden-haired boy shrugs. “It’s just so…  _ fluffy _ .”

Both Hinata and Yachi gasp scandalously. “Are you saying that I’m  _ fake _ ?” Hinata argues.

“No,” Tsukishima retorts. “It’s just that you have a knack of making people feel like they belong. Even the prickly ones like the king. It’s weird.”

Kageyama still has his chin on Tsukishima’s shoulder and he snorts at the statement. “What?” Tsukishima mutters, turning his head to look at Kageyama with an annoyed look.

“You’re prickly too,” Kageyama replies. “And you also got influenced by him.”

Yamaguchi chuckles as Tsukishima rolls his eyes at Kageyama and pointedly ignores Hinata’s teasing, choosing to physically remove himself from the conversation. Yamaguchi knows that Tsukishima would rather play ten sets back to back than admit that Hinata has had any influence on him. He has too much pride for that.

“Tsukishima changed so much from first year, didn’t he?” Yachi points out, watching as Tsukishima walks away with Kageyama and Hinata trailing behind to tease and make fun of him. “I never knew that he can say good things about people too.”

“He always thinks about people like this,” Yamaguchi replies. “It’s just that he’s more comfortable saying it in front of them now. He’d never say things that he doesn’t mean.”

“Classic Tadashi, always seeing the good in people,” Yachi says with a smile.

Yamaguchi raises an eyebrow, perplexed. Before he can ask her anything, Yachi has already skipped to an aisle which displays scarves of four different colours. She takes out a red and gold scarf and wraps it around Yamaguchi’s neck. “I think that you definitely suit this,” Yachi tells him.

He looks at the scarf and looks back at Yachi, who has picked up a blue and silver scarf. “What house does this belong to?” Yamaguchi asks.

Yachi walks up to him and adjusts his scarf so that it is nicely wrapped around his neck. “Gryffindor – the house for the most courageous hearts,” she murmurs. “Definitely a house fitting for someone like you.”

* * *

They finally decide to get on the rides, throwing all thoughts of the looming future into the wind and just enjoying the moment. Long queues do not deter them that much, especially with the Hinata-Kageyama-Yamaguchi trio to keep them entertained. 

Hinata and Yamaguchi pull off the funniest gags that even Tsukishima is unable to contain himself, laughing while clutching his stomach for 10 minutes straight. Surprisingly, Kageyama has a hidden talent of making ridiculous jokes that are not even supposed to be funny. It is just the way that he tries so hard but messes up on his delivery that sends the other four into a giggling fit. 

When they are not being an obnoxious nuisance in the queue, they tell stories that they remember from the whole three years of high school. Of course, most of their stories revolve around the volleyball club. 

Hinata remembers how they got to play so many practice matches with other schools in second year because of their renewed status of being a powerhouse school. He especially enjoyed the games where they mixed the players up and they got to be in the same team as players from other schools. 

Kageyama’s favourite memory from that period was getting to set for Kindaichi and Kunimi again, their friendship renewed after talking it out over ramen. They are now closer friends than ever. 

Tsukishima does not want to admit it at first, but he treasures the times where they would just hang out in the clubroom even when they do not have practice.

“Really? But you always leave the earliest when we hang out,” Hinata points out.

“Because I actually study, unlike you guys,” Tsukishima snaps.

“ _ Studying _ , yeah right,” Hinata teases. “Remember when Kageyama made up that excuse to get out of practice when you guys did that fake-dating thing?”

Yamaguchi snickers, “Remember when Kageyama got so jealous of Kobayashi that he kissed Tsukki in front of everyone?”

“Remember when I didn’t ask any of you to bring up any of this…” Kageyama mutters when everyone laughs (even Tsukishima, who is red in the face but still cannot help himself).

On the note of studying, Yachi talks about that one sleepover they had at Kageyama’s house when they were mugging for finals. They were supposed to go over Maths and History but ended up having an instant ramen party instead because they had no self-control. Yachi remembered that the ramen they made was so spicy because Hinata accidentally poured in a whole packet of chilli powder. The next day, they were all suffering and had to keep excusing themselves from the exam hall. 

Hinata was not allowed to pick out ingredients after that incident.

When they finally get on the rides, they make it the point to scream the loudest. Even Tsukishima, who is always so conscious about his hair, just lets loose and throws his arms in the air. It is a good stress reliever and Yamaguchi finds the feeling strangely addictive. Surprisingly, Hinata is the one who is not able to handle the adrenaline and after the fifth ride they are on, he taps out.

They decide to get dinner and head over to Harry Potter world again because they all agree that they like it best (even Yamaguchi, Hinata and Kageyama). They are lucky enough to get an outdoor table, which overlooks the castle. The sun is setting and the Night Show is about to start.  Yachi is so excited that she has her camera set up just to take a video of it. 

While waiting and eating their dinner, they keep recounting about what happened throughout the day. Apparently Kageyama’s celebrity status is no joke because he kept getting stopped by different people who asked for photos together. Hinata teases Tsukishima that Kageyama might even have his own fanclub like Oikawa and the Miya Twins do. The golden haired boy huffs and pointedly ignores Hinata’s teasing. Kageyama laughs and brings up Tsukishima’s encounter with the dinosaurs at Jurassic Park.

“He looked like he had hearts in his eyes when he saw the dinosaurs walking. I never thought that I would lose to a dinosaur,” Kageyama says.

“I thought you said that you didn’t like dinosaurs that much anymore,” Yamaguchi points out with a laugh.

“They looked so real! I couldn’t help it!” Tsukishima retorts, hiding his head in his hands.

“Yeah, like how you couldn’t help buying the figurine at the gift shop,” Yachi giggles.

Tsukishima gasps in horror, looking at Yachi with wide eyes. “Yacchan! That was supposed to be our secret!”

Yachi holds up a peace sign and sticks out her tongue, giving a hysterical Kageyama a high five when he holds his hand up.

“ _ Please stop _ ,” Tsukishima whines as everyone laughs as well.

Yamaguchi quietly eats his dinner as he continues to listen to each of their stories while they wait for the Night show. He is glad that everyone had a great day today and while they reminisced about a lot of things, they also made new memories to keep. 

He looks up from his food when he hears the other four make an amazed sound. The Night show has started and projections have started to appear on the facade of the castle in front of them. Yamaguchi watches in awe as the projections alternate between colours and magic spells, accompanied by music and dialogue. 

He is suddenly hyper-aware of himself and his surroundings and it feels as if the present has stopped for a while to make this moment last. He can hear his heartbeat in his ears and he can feel his chest rise and deflate with every breath he takes. It feels so surreal that he wonders if he can capture this moment forever. He turns to look at his friends, who are still fixated on watching the show. 

Hinata’s chocolate eyes are almost translucent as they reflect the projection on the castle. He is watching the show with the widest smile on his face, probably thinking at this moment that magic exists. Yamaguchi thinks that maybe he is not wrong. 

Tsukishima is leaning against Kageyama, who has his arms around him. It is rare to see Tsukishima’s amber eyes sparkle with fascination and while it is a bit too dark to figure out the expression on Kageyama’s face, he can tell that the raven-haired boy is just content to have Tsukishima in his arms.

He finally turns to Yachi, who is looking up at the castle with so much wonder in her copper eyes. He remembers the first time he fell for her, during the Spring tournament of their first year. It was before their match with Aoba Johsai, when she was so determined to calm his nerves because he had been too anxious. 

Never in his life did he think that he would be giving the second button of his gakuran to the girl of his dreams, and that she would accept his confession and make his high school life so meaningful. 

Yachi catches him staring and she smiles at him, teary eyed and emotional from such a spectacular show.

Yamaguchi is in love.

He puts an arm around her and pulls her close, kissing the top of her head as she leans towards him.

He is surrounded by his closest friends and he has the girl whom he loves in his arms in this moment that is nothing less than magical. He wants them to stay like this forever.

* * *

Before heading back to their ryokan, they make a stop at the convenience store to get snacks for their movie night and also for their picnic at Osaka castle the next day. Hinata senses that Yamaguchi is feeling a bit restless and he keeps hovering near Yachi while she continues to look for her things.

“Hey, can I get the keys to our room?” Hinata asks Yamaguchi. “My stomach hurts and I really need to use the toilet.”

“Oh, do you want me to come with you?” Yamaguchi asks, looking at him with worry.

Hinata vehemently waves his hands. “Ah, you don’t have to worry! I’ll take Kageyama and Tsukishima with me.”

“If you say so,” Yamaguchi replies, handing him the keys. 

“Take your time, guys. We’ll set up the movie for you!” Hinata waves, leaving with Kageyama and Tsukishima.

Yamaguchi realises that Hinata is deliberately leaving them alone when the orange-haired boy winks at him before he leaves.  _ That is… helpful? _

He snaps back into reality when he hears Yachi call out for him. “Earth to Tadashi! Tadashi, hello? Are you there?”

Yamaguchi turns to see her looking at him, tilting her head curiously.  _ Cute _ , he thinks as he walks up to her. “Sorry, I spaced out. What’s up?”

“I asked if you wanna get fries for our picnic tomorrow,” Yachi says. “We can put yours in a paper bag so they can be soft and floppy when you eat them, just the way you like.”

It is this attention to the weird things he likes that makes him appreciate her so much. Yamaguchi does not think he could ever be more in love. “Of course.”

They walk back to the ryokan hand-in-hand, carrying their bags of snacks. “How did you find today?” he asks.

“I loved it so much! Especially Harry Potter world,” Yachi replies with a chuckle.

“That’s good,” Yamaguchi says. “I’m glad that we moved the itinerary around. I can’t imagine if we went through with our original one… We probably wouldn’t have enjoyed today as much.”

Yachi bumps her shoulders with Yamaguchi’s. “Hey, you were just thinking of fitting in everybody’s suggestions to make sure we would all have a good time.”

Yamaguchi sighs. “You’re always cleaning up after my mistakes.”

“And I’m telling you, I don’t mind doing that,” Yachi tells him, stopping the both of them in the middle of the pathway. “Tadashi, I really don’t mind if you rely on me a bit more too.”

Yamaguchi looks at Yachi, holding up their intertwined hands. “Hitoka, I want to be someone you can depend on,” he says to her. “I want to become as reliable to you as you are to me. I want to be worthy of you.”

Yachi is quiet for a moment as she looks at him with glassy copper eyes. Finally, she smiles and squeezes his hand. “Tadashi, you already are.”

Under the streetlight of a small pathway in Osaka, Yamaguchi realises that there are so many ways to say I love you and that Yachi wants to keep being with him as much as he wants to keep being with her.

When Yamaguchi leans in to kiss her, he has no doubt that she is the only one he wants to love for the rest of his life. And he will keep being brave to be the person Yachi deserves.

Upon reaching his room at the ryokan, Yamaguchi sees the other three watching a match between the Schweiden Adlers and the Tachibana Red Falcons on the TV, with a cable connected to Tsukishima’s laptop. “Seriously, guys? Is there ever a time where you’re not thinking of volleyball?” Yamaguchi asks.

“You guys took so long,” Hinata grumbles.

“But you told us to take our time,” Yamaguchi chuckles.

“Is everything okay between the both of you?” Tsukishima asks.

The dreamy smile on Yamaguchi’s face is enough of an answer. He goes over to drape himself over Hinata, who yelps and falls forward into both Kageyama and Tsukishima’s laps. “Have I told you guys how grateful I am for you?” he tells them.

“Hey, hey! Heart-to-heart talk is scheduled for tomorrow night!” Hinata yells.

“I just want you guys to know,” Yamaguchi continues. “That I’ll promise to be a friend whom you can always depend on no matter what.”

Kageyama ruffles his dark green hair, loosening it from its ponytail. “Yama, stop talking shit. You already are.”

“Will we still be friends even after graduation?” Yamaguchi asks.

“Of course!” Hinata tells him, wriggling his body.

Yamaguchi rolls over so that he falls from Hinata and he looks up to his three friends, who are all giving him different looks. He smiles at them in response.

“So are we watching Harry Potter or not?” Tsukishima asks, looking extremely confused.

Halfway through the first movie, Yamaguchi sneaks a peek at his four friends who have all formed a collective cuddle pile in the middle of the room. They are all so invested in the movie, even Hinata and Kageyama, and it is so amusing to see them flinch and hold their breath whenever _anything_ happens. 

As he chuckles and looks back at the screen, Yamaguchi cannot help but think that he has never been more grateful for the four constants in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update! i really wanted this to be yamaguchi's chapter so i took my time in understanding his character and tried my best to show his thoughts and the things he holds dear to him. friendship is also something that is really meaningful to me so this chapter is all the more an important one! (ot5's friendship overall is just something i don't want to mess up too ; - ;)
> 
> sometimes i like to discuss about these things in greater depth on my twitter so hit me up @miyaagiboys if you'd like to share your thoughts hehe (though most of the time i'm just shitposting and liking stuff ehe)
> 
> ALSO, i watched too many videos of USJ and now i really miss being able to go out of my house for stuff other than work and buying groceries : ' )
> 
> hope you all are staying safe and washing your hands! ♡


	4. Carry on, Kageyama Tobio

Kageyama wakes up in a relatively dark room, momentarily forgetting where he is at the moment until he registers the hardness of the tatami floor and the sound of Yamaguchi’s snoring. He groans as he buries his face in Tsukishima’s back, cursing his body clock for making him wake up so early even after a late night (they ended up watching the first two Harry Potter movies until they dozed off). The raven-haired boy groggily gets up and walks over to the engawa, sliding open the door to take a peek outside.

Even the sun has not risen yet and Kageyama is greeted by the still and quiet Osaka air. It seems like an okay morning for a jog. He doubts that the rest will be awake any time soon (especially Yamaguchi, who can actually sleep through a thunderstorm), so he goes to wash up and prepare for a jog. When he steps out of the bathroom, he sees Hinata awake as well, sitting on the engawa. “Oh hey, you’re going for a jog?” Hinata asks when he sees Kageyama dressed in his windbreaker and training shorts over his running tights.

“Yeah,” he replies.

“Can I join?” Hinata asks, already scrambling up before Kageyama can even give him an answer.

“I’m not waiting for you,” Kageyama huffs but makes himself comfortable on the floor anyway while Hinata noisily rushes to the bathroom.

The two of them start off with a leisure jog around the area where they are staying before their competitive spirits get in the way and they are off trying to outrace each other. It has been three years but the rush he gets when he challenges Hinata never gets old. Both of them are laughing while they run next to each other, eventually collapsing on the ground as they get stitches from over-exerting themselves on empty stomachs.

They are starfished on a patch of grass against a slope, looking at slivers of the sunrise from in between buildings. Kageyama realises that more often than not, he is always catching the sunrise with Hinata since both of them are always reaching school at godforsaken hours of the morning for practice. He thinks it is befitting of the orange-haired boy to be associated with daybreak. Hinata is always pushing him to be better through their many mini-competitions and he is grateful for that.

“Hey, Kageyama?” Hinata says, still a bit breathless from their run.

“Yeah?” Kageyama hums in response.

“I’m glad that you’re the first person I played against in an official match,” Hinata continues. “Because even before the world discovered you, I found you first.”

Anyone can see that Hinata radiates an energy that has such an influence on people, making them orbit him as if he is the sun.

Kageyama chuckles, feeling the warmth from the daylight and Hinata’s sincerity. “I’m glad that you found me.”

“Natsu was really excited when I told her that you’re going to be on TV more,” Hinata tells him. “She adores you so much. It’s almost as if she likes you more than she likes me.”

Kageyama laughs at Hinata’s grumbling. The younger Hinata is always so cheery and bright-eyed, taking after her brother’s relentless energy.

“Was your sister just as excited too?” Hinata asks.

“She probably was,” Kageyama replies wistfully. “We’re… not the type of family to show much emotion.”

He has only recently been able to properly hold a conversation with Miwa about his thoughts and feelings, considering their age gap, but he still feels a bit awkward to open up to his own sister.

He remembers the day Takeda sensei told him about the offer from the National team. After telling his friends about it, he called his sister up to meet her for dinner. They had udon at a restaurant near her workplace and he had casually told her about getting selected for the National team with as much enthusiasm as someone reporting the news. He was definitely more excited telling his friends but with Miwa, he found himself being more reserved, as if even a slight tip of energy was an anomaly in their relationship.

Miwa had looked at him with her stoic blue eyes and he thought he saw a smile ghosting at her lips but she quickly covered it by taking a piece of ebi tempura. “That’s great,” was the only thing she told him, the same reply she gave when he told her he was going to Nationals or when he told her about Tsukishima.

The only difference was that this time before they parted ways, Miwa had pulled him into an awkward hug, ruffling his hair and patting his back. “I’m so proud of you, Tobio,” she had mumbled, as if she had been sitting on it for so long.

He wanted to hug her back and tell her that he appreciated hearing those words from her, but he had been so shocked that the words simply could not escape his mouth. They parted just like any other night, walking separate ways without saying anything else.

“Geez. If that’s how you reacted with your sister, I can’t imagine how you’re gonna be like when you tell your parents,” Hinata teases.

Kageyama hums. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be telling them any time soon. It seems like they’re just never gonna be home at the same time ever again.”

“Oh, damn…” Hinata mutters. “Are they...?”

“Most likely,” Kageyama replies in a small voice. “I think it’s better for them too. They don’t have to keep pretending like we can still be a family.”

There are only a few people who Kageyama opens up to about his family and Hinata is one of them. He knows that his own family is as distant as they can get but he never wants anyone to pity him for it. He has long come to terms that his family will never be whole again, even if they never talk about it.

The two of them are silent for a while, watching the clouds pass by while their backs are damp from the morning dew on the grass blades.

“I made the National team. I’m moving on,” Kageyama says, breaking the silence.

Hinata chuckles. “I know and I’m happy for you.”

“But are you feeling okay?” he asks. Trust him to notice all the things which Kageyama has wanted to keep hidden. The orange-haired boy has also gone through his own share of family problems when he was younger and while Hinata has always carried himself with the strength of a thousand shining suns, Kageyama knows that Hinata would never want any of his friends to go through what he did.

“I’m good, I promise,” Kageyama assures him.

He finds that he does not have to lie to Hinata. He can never think of how anything can be worse when he is around the people who care for him the most.

“Good,” Hinata says. “I’m gonna throw mud on your face if you start crying now.”

Kageyama grabs a fistful of grass and flings it at the screeching orange-haired boy next to him.

* * *

The two of them chance upon a bakery, next to a flight of steps leading to a temple, on their way back to the ryokan. They decide to buy some pastries for breakfast since they know that the other three are most likely sleeping in. After wandering around the area (definitely not lost), they finally reach their ryokan again. Hinata loiters around the lobby, asking Kageyama to head to their room first. Kageyama raises an eyebrow but shrugs and goes off first, not thinking much about it. Hinata is a bit strange that way but he has long learned not to question.

Tsukishima is awake and scrolling on his phone when Kageyama walks into their room so the first thing he does is tackle the lanky golden-haired boy.

“Ow! You’re not exactly the lightest, you know,” Tsukishima groans as Kageyama flops on his stomach.

“Good morning to you too,” Kageyama retorts, finding a comfortable position to rest himself on Tsukishima. Eventually, he settles on curling up against his side and putting his head on Tsukishima’s chest as the latter casually loops an arm around him “Why are you on your phone so early in the morning?”

“Texting my mum,” Tsukishima says. “She sent a picture of Mako-chan and the kittens.”

Kageyama looks at the picture on Tsukishima’s phone, cooing at their favourite fluffy grey stray cat and her five multicoloured kittens eating breakfast at the Tsukishimas’ engawa. He has met and played with all of Mako-chan’s kittens and even keeps a picture of Tsukishima holding one of the kittens Lion King-style in his phone.

“My mum says that she’s excited about your National team debut,” Tsukishima tells him. “You told her about it?”

“Of course I did,” Kageyama replies, tracing letters on Tsukishima’s chest. He spells out _‘Mother’_ with his index finger. “We text sometimes, you know.”

Tsukishima rolls his eyes. “Trust me, I know. She never stops talking about it. It’s like you’re already her favourite son.”

Kageyama snickers. He writes the word _‘Son’_ next. “Watch out. I’m aiming for your spot at the dining table.”

He hears Tsukishima snort. “Mum’s probably bought a chair for you already. She even talks about you to Dad when he’s home.”

Kageyama chuckles. He traces the strokes for the word _‘Father’_ while Tsukishima continues tapping on his phone.

“Your family’s really nice and warm,” Kageyama comments idly. “I really like them.”

Ever since Tsukishima first introduced him to his family, Kageyama has received nothing but love from them. Kei’s mother is the nicest person he has ever met and Akiteru nii-san is easy to get along with. Even the rare times he meets Kei’s father, the man gives him so many smiles too, complete with a nod of the head that dads usually give. He is too focused on writing his next word to notice that Tsukishima has shifted his attention from his phone to him.

“You missed a stroke,” Tsukishima suddenly says, snapping Kageyama out from his thoughts.

Tsukishima takes his hand and writes the correct letters on his palm. _‘Family’_.

“Why haven’t you told your parents that you’re gonna play for the National team?” Tsukishima asks. “Don’t tell me that it’s troublesome when they’re not together. We have phones for a reason.”

Kageyama sighs as he closes his fingers around Tsukishima’s hand. Nothing can get past him, the taller boy has always made sure of it and Kageyama saw this conversation coming since the first night they got here. Tsukishima knows that his parents are going through a divorce since Kageyama told him about it. But Kageyama has not told him why he does not want to talk to his parents just yet.

“Are you upset with them?” Tsukishima asks.

“No, I’m not,” Kageyama replies briskly. “We just don’t talk. That’s how my family’s been like even when my parents were still together.”

Tsukishima frowns. “But you talk to my mum just fine.”

“Your mum’s not _my_ mum,” Kageyama says. “I’m just not prepared to talk to my parents about it now, okay?”

Kageyama knows that Tsukishima is holding back on so much from the way he chooses to keep quiet. He does not expect him to step into his shoes; Tsukishima’s family is already so different from his. Even though Tsukishima keeps saying ‘ _My Dad’s like that too_ ’ but Kageyama just finds it so difficult to explain how different his family situation is.

The golden-haired boy presses his lips onto the top of Kageyama’s head. “It’s alright to feel upset,” he murmurs. “You can’t keep your feelings bottled up just because ‘it’s normal’ for your family to be this way.”

Of course, Tsukishima reads him just like an open book. 

Kageyama lets out a tired sigh, burying his face into Tsukishima’s neck. Even though he has gotten better at expressing his thoughts and feelings to his friends, doing the same with his family is still very strange for him. It seems like a bit of an irony since family is supposed to be there as you grow and they are supposed to know you inside out, but Kageyama thinks that his family somehow adopted their own normal with his parents working abroad and his sister being much older than him. It makes Kageyama feel like maybe he missed out on yet another healthy relationship.

“I wish it wasn’t so hard to just tell my parents that I want them to be around,” he mumbles, voicing out the thought he has been keeping in for the longest time. “I miss them.”

He feels like a little boy again, just wanting his mother to wrap her arms around him and his father to ruffle his hair so he can feel _loved_ again.

Tsukishima is quiet for a moment but then tightens his arm around Kageyama and mutters, “What a baby.”

His words make Kageyama chuckle and he lightly headbutts Tsukishima’s chin. How ironic is it that he found someone who has an abnormal way of showing affection too?

They lay like that for a while until Yamaguchi noisily stirs beside them. The both of them turn to look at him as he groggily sits up, his hair equivalent to that of a bird’s nest. “What time is it?” the freckled boy asks sleepily.

“It’s almost 9,” Tsukishima replies, having turned his attention back to his phone again.

“Ah shoot… We’re behind schedule…” Yamaguchi mutters as he rubs his eyes but he makes no move to actually get up.

“Let’s just stay in for the morning,” Kageyama suggests from where he is still half lying on Tsukishima.

“Sounds like a plan…” Yamaguchi replies, quickly plopping his head back on the pillow. Kageyama opens up his other arm and Yamaguchi rolls to settle next to the raven-haired boy.

Tsukishima is not even surprised when he hears snoring from both of them when he looks up from his phone a few minutes later.

Hinata walks in after half an hour, very much confused when he sees that the three of them have become a snoring pile of tangled limbs in the middle of the room.

* * *

Eventually, Yachi gets all of them up and moving so they do not waste the rest of the day in. By the time Yachi has dragged the four boys out of their ryokan, it is already late afternoon. They decide to forego lunch and make their way straight to Osaka Castle for a picnic underneath the cherry blossoms. Coincidentally, there is a cherry blossom festival going on and the pavements are lined with stalls selling street food and cute trinkets.

Kageyama feels a wave of nostalgia hit him as he remembers a memory of a family holiday from a long time ago. His parents had brought him and his older sister to Osaka Castle for the cherry blossom festival. Kageyama remembers holding on tightly to his father’s hand as he was overwhelmed by the crowd and the smells. He was scared so he kept looking at the ground, but then his father lifted him up to sit on his shoulders so he could see the view above the heads of the crowd. He could never forget the sight of the cherry blossoms which brought so much wonder to his five-year-old eyes. There were also other sights, sounds and sensations that he still remembers — such as the blue hair clip Miwa had in her hair, the gentle lilt of his mother’s laughter and the warmth radiating from his father’s hands.

That was the first and last holiday Kageyama had ever gone with his family where all of them were together.

Kageyama is snapped out of his thoughts by a warm hand slipping into his.

“Would you keep up, your highness? I don’t want to report a missing child,” Tsukishima tells him, tugging him along by the hand. His words are teasing but Kageyama can sense the worrying undertone in his voice. Tsukishima squeezes his hand to remind Kageyama that he is presently here, with the four of them, as if he knew that that is exactly what Kageyama needed.

Hinata and Yamaguchi have gone ahead to get more food so Kageyama joins Tsukishima and Yachi’s pace. They stop by a stall which sells cherry blossom themed accessories and Yachi’s eyes immediately light up at the sight of the handmade flower crowns. “It’s so pretty!” Yachi gushes, picking up a cherry blossom flower crown with pretty gems adorning the felt flowers. Kageyama thinks that the flower crown suits her. She has beautiful golden hair, similar to Tsukishima’s, so the pink flowers would complement her well.

“I think you should get it,” Kageyama tells her.

“Really? I’ve never used anything this pretty in my hair before,” Yachi says, checking herself out with the crown in a small hand-mirror.

“It suits you,” Kageyama says. “The pink flowers in your hair would make you look like a garden fairy.”

Yachi’s face heats up at how Kageyama says his words so bluntly and sincerely. As she is stuttering to come up with an answer, Tsukishima is already plucking out the flower crown from her hand. “I’d like to pay for this, please,” he tells the stall owner.

“Tsukishima!” Yachi whines, trying to stop Tsukishima from taking money out of his wallet.

“What? I’d like to see you become a garden fairy,” Tsukishima teases, holding his wallet out of Yachi’s reach and successfully paying.

Yachi puffs her cheeks in annoyance but she softens when Kageyama combs his fingers in her hair and puts the flower crown in place. “There. Now you’re our garden fairy,” Kageyama says.

Tsukishima holds up the hand-mirror, showing Yachi how she looks. She cannot help but smile as she sees the flower crown in her hair and looks up to see Tsukishima and Kageyama picking out hairpins.

“I think this would suit your mum,” Kageyama tells Tsukishima, picking out a hairpin with pink cherry blossoms. “Her hair is short and light so the pink flowers would frame her face well and stand out a bit.

“Stop giving my mum more reasons to like you,” Tsukishima grumbles, but he pays for the hairpin anyway without a second thought.

“How do you know so much about hair accessories, Kageyama?” Yachi asks.

Kageyama shrugs. “My older sister liked wearing accessories when we were younger. So I guess I’m used to her asking my opinion on how she looks with them.”

Yachi gasps, “I didn’t know that you had an older sister! Does she look just like you?”

The raven-haired boy fishes out his phone from his pocket and scrolls through his pictures to a selfie which was taken a few months ago. It is a selfie Miwa had taken with him in the background and she sent it over to make fun of him because he was caught half-sneezing.

“She’s so pretty!” Yachi comments, her eyes practically sparkling. “You two really look similar.”

“Are you close with your sister?” Yachi asks, still looking at the picture with Tsukishima looking over her shoulder.

“We only got close recently,” Kageyama says. “Nee-san and I have a big age gap so she’s always been far from me to reach. But I guess now that I’m older it’s somehow easier for us to talk.”

“That’s really nice,” Yachi beams, handing Kageyama his phone back. “I wish I had a sibling too.”

“You can have my older brother,” Tsukishima offers.

Yachi laughs. “Stop trying to give Akiteru-san away, I know you don’t really want him gone.”

She then pats both of their shoulders and beams. “Anyway, I don’t need any more brothers. I already have you guys.”

Both of them watch Yachi run over to Yamaguchi and Hinata, who have appeared with bags of street food. She is smiling widely and showing off her flower crown while Hinata marvels at the flowers in her hair and Yamaguchi looks at her like she is the most beautiful girl in the world. Kageyama sees the three of them look up and beckon for them to quickly come over.

He feels like a warm blanket has been enveloped over him. Perhaps this is what it means to love and be loved.

Kageyama turns to Tsukishima, who looks every bit distressed. “Why do you have that look on your face?”

“I just remembered something I didn’t want to,” Tsukishima replies, visibly shuddering.

Kageyama raises an eyebrow to inquire but Tsukishima grabs his hand and briskly pulls him along.

If looking at Miwa’s picture reminded Tsukishima of how their older siblings hooked up in college ( _no thanks for the info, Akiteru_ ), Kageyama _definitely_ did not have to know.

* * *

The five of them find a nice spot underneath a cherry blossom tree to have their picnic and immediately settle down. Yamaguchi and Kageyama lay out the picnic mat while Yachi and Tsukishima arrange their food and Hinata shoos away the birds and squirrels. They have sandwiches and onigiri from their convenience store run yesterday, the bread from this morning's run and Yamaguchi and Hinata had bought meat skewers and tempura from the street vendors. Yamaguchi even has his own bag of floppy fries which he is happy to indulge in.

As usual, Kageyama and Yamaguchi are up to no good and try to trick everyone to eat wasabi filled onigiri. Tsukishima falls for it because he does not think twice when Kageyama feeds it to him. Hinata immediately senses something is wrong and straight out refuses while Yachi has already eaten half-way. It is hilarious to watch Tsukishima try to keep a calm face while he is struggling with the wasabi in his system and it is even more hilarious to watch Tsukishima wrestle both Kageyama and Yamaguchi to feed them the deadly onigiri.

Lunch goes on with the same energy, the five of them filling their stomachs with food and enjoying the scenery. Despite the pockets of picnickers around them, it feels as if they are in their own little bubble by themselves.

“This is nice,” Hinata sighs, lying on his back after being full from all the food. He faces the clear blue sky, where there is a plane flying overhead. He reaches out his hand to trace the plane’s line of movement with his finger until it disappears out of his sight.

“Spring came so soon,” Yamaguchi muses, picking out a stray flower petal from Yachi’s hair.

The bright-eyed girl smiles and rests her head on his shoulder. “I’m so glad I joined the volleyball club,” she says. “Sometimes I wonder how my high school life would turn out if I turned Shimizu-senpai down...”

 _If I didn’t meet you guys._

Somehow Kageyama could understand what Yachi meant even without her saying it out loud. He watches as Yamaguchi laces his fingers with Yachi’s and squeezes her hand. Beside him, Tsukishima hums loudly. “We definitely wouldn’t have survived our second year and Ennoshita-san would’ve lost all his hair,” he replies candidly.

Hinata grins mischievously. “Remember when we had the joint training camp in Miyagi and Yachi-san had so many admirers from the other schools?”

Yachi shudders at the memory while Yamaguchi has on a tight-lipped smile. Hinata and Tsukishima laugh as they recall about the incident where Seijoh’s captain Yahaba had been a bit too enthusiastic with wanting to show off to Yachi. Yamaguchi was silently fuming but when Yahaba was taken down by a stray volleyball ( _accidentally_ thrown by none other than Kageyama himself), the rest of the Karasuno team were reduced into a fit of giggles. Needless to say, Yahaba kept his distance from Yachi throughout the rest of the training camp.

“But Seijoh's wing spiker turned out to be really nice,” Yachi says. “Kyoutani-san helped me carry a lot of things during camp and we even exchanged Line contacts after that.”

Hinata lets out a hearty laugh. “Just like Yachi-san to tame all the wild animals.”

“I hope you’re talking about yourself as well,” Tsukishima comments as Yamaguchi snickers.

They share other stories throughout the three years they spent together, like how Kageyama had to hide in the equipment room during second year because he was getting so many confessions and how Hinata showed up late to yet another training camp because he failed yet another test (“In my defence, I didn’t have someone like _Stingyshima_ giving me one-on-one tutoring.” “Dumbass, you borrowed Yacchan’s notes and you _still_ can’t copy the correct answers.”).

Yamaguchi smiles nostalgically as they continue to reminisce about the time they had spent together. He looks at the faces of his friends and he cannot help but feel a sense of warmth overcome him. They have really grown since the first time they met each other. Even his best friend has learned to give more of himself without the fear of not meeting expectations and his smiles are less practised and more genuine now.

_You guys have really grown._

He does not realise that he has said it out loud until he has all four faces looking at him with surprised looks.

“What are you talking about, captain? You’ve grown too,” Hinata says.

His off-handed comment makes Yamaguchi laugh. _Yes, they have all grown_.

“Oh right!” Hinata suddenly exclaims as if he just remembered something. “I got something for everyone.”

He digs into the pocket of his shorts and produces a small nicely wrapped package. He gingerly unwraps the package, revealing five different coloured omamori. On each of the omamori, the word ‘happiness’ is stitched onto them. “Kageyama and I passed by a temple during our run this morning and I thought about getting something for all of us for our future,” Hinata explains.

His chocolate eyes glisten as he looks at the omamori, thumbing the ‘happiness’ stitching on it. “You guys really gave me so much happiness these past few years,” he says in a much softer voice. “I want you guys to have even more happiness after we’ve graduated and gone our own paths.”

He hands out the omamori to all of them and a calm silence befalls the group as they let Hinata’s words sink in. In a few months, they would have gotten their diplomas and moved on from high school. They would not be meeting at the gym anymore for practice twice a week because they would all be living their separate lives.

The silence is broken by a sniffle and the boys immediately turn to look at Yachi, alarmed. “Dumbass, you made Yacchan cry!” Kageyama scolds Hinata, who is making garbled noises while looking for a tissue.

Hinata is frantic as he passes a tissue over to Yachi. “Yacchan, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry!”

The girl wipes her tears with the tissue and surprises the boys by letting out a laugh. “It’s okay, Hinata. I’m sad that we’re going on our own paths after graduation but surely we’ll be meeting up often, right?”

She looks at the boys, who in return give her warm smiles. Yamaguchi squeezes her hand and swipes his thumb underneath her eyelids. “Of course,” he replies on their behalf.

“Even when Kageyama gets super famous he shouldn’t forget that we put up with his bratty ass first!” Hinata teases.

Kageyama rolls his eyes but the smile on his face tells that he is anything but annoyed. Tsukishima’s hand has ended up on his thigh and the golden-haired boy is drawing letters with his finger. He knows the letters Tsukishima has written, remembering them from this morning. _Family_. 

It is moments like these that Kageyama wants to keep in the safest part of his memories. The pink flowers in Yachi’s hair, the brightness of Hinata’s smile, the lilt of Yamaguchi’s voice and the warm closeness of Tsukishima next to him. He wants to treasure this family for the rest of his life. 

(“Who do you think the second years have picked for the next captain?” “Probably Akiyama. He looks like he’s unbothered but he’s surprisingly really observant.” “Ugh... He’s observant for the wrong things.” “Hush, Tsukki… You brought it upon yourself for making out with Kageyama in the club room.”)

* * *

Somehow in the middle of their conversation, they ended up talking about getting alcohol to wrap up the last night of the trip together. The problem was with getting the alcohol itself but Tsukishima surprised everyone by saying that he’ll handle it. “I can probably pass off as a 20-year-old,” he says with a shrug.

Excited at the prospect of drinking, they all pack their things and prepare to head off. As they are leaving, Yachi makes one small request for a photo and everyone gets into position. At the click of the shutter, she hears a strangled yelp behind her and does not have to turn and check to know that the boys are up to no good again. She gets a laugh when she checks the photo on her camera. Kageyama has pulled up Hinata’s scarf over his face while Yamaguchi is distracted by a stray petal on Kageyama’s hair. Only Tsukishima looks normal holding up a peace sign but he is frowning at Kageyama and Hinata. As always, Yachi looks blissfully unaware of the chaos happening behind her, holding up a peace sign with a bright smile on her face.

The photo is a disaster but to Yachi it is perfect.

(They have another picture taken by a passer-by and Yachi makes sure that the boys stay still and smile widely for the camera. She still needs something to post on her social media anyway.)

The five of them make their way to Dotonbori to get some things for their last night at the ryokan and also do some last-minute shopping for souvenirs. Yachi’s camera gets passed around among the boys and they each take turns to take pictures. When they reach Dotonbori, they decide to split up and agree to meet under the Glico running man sign in an hour. Since Tsukishima is getting the drinks, Kageyama decides to walk with Yamaguchi, who is looking for souvenirs for his parents. He is holding Yachi’s camera now since Hinata had shoved it into his hands and ran off within seconds of splitting up.

He has never really taken many photos since he was young but has gotten into the habit of it when he started hanging out with the other four in high school. Though most of the time his camera roll is filled with pictures of match schedules and team strategies, there are also some occasional pictures of Mako-chan and her kittens, his teammates goofing off and also candids of Tsukishima.

It is almost getting dark so the streets of Dotonbori have been illuminated by neon signs and advertisements. Kageyama walks behind Yamaguchi, marvelling at the colourful lights and holding up the camera to take some pictures. As he turns with the camera to capture more sights, he spots a family of four through his viewfinder. The mother and father are holding hands while their son is seated over his father’s shoulders and their daughter is pressed onto the mother’s side for warmth. The lights illuminate their happy faces and Kageyama puts down the camera as he feels a dull ache in his chest.

“Yama?” Yamaguchi calls out when he notices that Kageyama has stopped in the middle of the street. “You alright? Don’t wanna lose you when we’re miles away from home.”

Yamaguchi follows Kageyama’s line of sight and lets out an ‘ _oh_ ’ when he realises what has gotten Kageyama’s attention. He puts a hand on the raven-haired boy’s shoulder, knowing well that a comforting touch grounds him.

“It’s been a while since I last went on a holiday with my parents. They are always busy with work and their off days don’t sync up,” Yamaguchi tells him. “Being an only child, it gets even more lonely during the holidays. But I’m glad that I met Tsukishima and now I have you guys too.”

Kageyama sighs, tearing his attention away from the family and to the colourful lights instead as the ache starts to grow. “It’s stupid but I keep holding on to the hope that we could be as happy as we were that last time.”

He turns to his fellow captain and asks, “It’s stupid to keep hoping, isn’t it?”

Yamaguchi hums as he gives it a thought and promptly shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s wrong to hope. We all have different ways of coping with changes in life.”

“It’s how we move on that matters,” he adds with a smile. “It isn’t stupid to take your time with it too.”

His words soothe the ache in Kageyama’s chest and he cannot help but marvel at how cool and mature his captain is. “I’m glad I came here with you guys,” he says genuinely.

Yamaguchi laughs and reaches out to pinch Kageyama’s cheek. “Geez, you and Tsukki are really the same with your big ego and fragile hearts. No wonder the both of you are together.” 

Kageyama grumbles at the jab but he finds that he cannot really deny that.

They continue weaving in and out of shops to get their souvenirs and in the end, they end up with plastic bags full of sweets and treats to bring back to Miyagi. They spot Hinata’s bright orange hair first under the Glico running man sign and Tsukishima arrives a bit later, one head taller than the crowd.

“You really got the drinks?” Hinata asks, his eyes shining as he spots the bottles of beer and cider in the bag Tsukishima is carrying.

“Don’t ask me how I got them,” Tsukishima says, handing one bag to Hinata for him to carry.

“I got something for Miwa nee-san,” Tsukishima tells Kageyama. “She’s been complaining to me that her hands are dry since she’s handling all those chemicals at work.”

Kageyama makes a noise. “Why can you be close to Nee-san but you won’t let me talk to Akiteru?”

“Because he’s a different breed altogether!” Tsukishima explains curtly, waving his hand to drop the subject. Also because Miwa had specifically told him to not let Tobio find out that their older siblings hooked up in college. He does not trust that Akiteru can be capable of keeping such a secret.

Everyone except Yachi has gathered at their meeting spot so the boys wait for her to come by. They spot Yachi coming out of a nearby shop and Hinata and Yamaguchi wave their arms to catch her attention. She does not seem to notice however as she is stopped by a random stranger who is offering to help carry her bags for her. Yachi politely declines with a smile, hurrying to walk away, but the man follows her and keeps on insisting.

It is when Tsukishima calls out Yachi’s name that both the girl and the man look up. The man must have gotten the shock of his life as he is faced with an intimidating 1.9 metres tall boy, a glaring raven-haired boy, an orange-haired boy with the scariest face and a smiling freckled boy who has his arms crossed to his chest and is emitting a dangerous aura. The man immediately walks away without another word and Yachi hurries over to the boys.

“I could’ve handled that,” she tells them, rolling her eyes.

“Of course, you could,” Yamaguchi says, helping her with the bags. “We’re just giving a warning, you know?”

The golden-haired girl laughs as they start to make their way back to the ryokan. Even though it has been three years, she has still never fully understood the behaviour of crows but she is glad that she has them by her side.

* * *

“So… none of you have actually drank before?” 

Once again, the boys’ room has been used as their gathering spot and the snacks and drinks have been arranged on the table. Tsukishima raises an eyebrow at the four faces looking at him expectantly.

“You have, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asks.

“Yeah… with my brother,” Tsukishima replies.

Hinata blinks owlishly. “Akiteru-san lets you drink with him???”

“You guys give him too much credit. He’s not a saint,” the younger brother grumbles.

They start with the cider since the taste is not too strong and eventually Tsukishima cracks open the beer bottles for them to drink. Yachi seems to be doing the best out of the four new drinkers as she finishes a bottle with a huge grin and asks for another one. Aside from her, Hinata seems to be in a happy mood as well, having picked up the guitar and strumming random tunes. Yamaguchi is a quiet drinker, preferring to listen to the others as he finishes his bottle while Kageyama continues sipping on the cider as he does not like the taste of beer. The energy in the room is good with Hinata singing songs on the guitar (where did the guitar even come from?) and everyone singing along to Konayuki. 

Even Tsukishima, who is half-leaning against Kageyama, sings along to the lyrics in his normal speaking voice. Kageyama finds it absolutely endearing and chuckles when Tsukishima huffs at him, getting caught for staring.

“Wait, don’t,” Kageyama laughs, pulling Tsukishima back when he moves away. “I just didn’t know that you can sing.”

“Of course I can. Everybody knows this song,” Tsukishima replies, letting himself be pulled by Kageyama without much retaliation. His speech is starting to slur and while he is always cautious with touching, especially in the presence of their friends, his hands are beginning to wander as his face is pressed into Kageyama’s neck. 

The raven-haired boy jolts in surprise when Tsukishima’s hand moves straight up to his crotch and he quickly grabs his wrist to prevent it from doing anything else. “Uhh… Kei, are you drunk already?” Kageyama whispers to Tsukishima’s ear.

He only gets a muffled reply from Tsukishima, who is still pressed against him.

“Ah, Tsukishima-kun is a lightweight? Who would have thought,” Yachi giggles when she notices that Tsukishima is literally plastered against Kageyama.

“I’ll just get him to lie down,” Kageyama says, gently peeling Tsukishima off of him.

“You can let him rest in my room,” Yachi offers. “I think Hinata’s going to get even louder and his energy is infecting Tadashi. I still feel okay so I can look after the both of them.”

Kageyama nods and takes the room key Yachi offers to him as well as the cider he has been drinking and a bottle of water. The other two boys do not seem to be paying any attention to them so Kageyama does not feel too bad about leaving. He holds Tsukishima up and walks him over to Yachi’s room, away from the noise and the chaos.

Tsukishima seems to be slightly conscious because he is gazing intently at Kageyama when he sits him down in Yachi’s room. Kageyama takes off his glasses and bites back his chuckles when he sees how red Tsukishima’s skin is from the alcohol.

“Do you want me to get you some water?” Kageyama asks, caressing his head endearingly.

Tsukishima’s amber eyes are glazed over but he shakes his head, indicating that he is still somewhat functional. He leans against Kageyama’s touch instead and the raven-haired boy cannot seem to stop himself from pressing a kiss against Tsukishima’s forehead. The kiss makes Tsukishima giggle and the sound of it makes Kageyama groan as it goes straight to his heart.

“How is it that you get so cute when you’re drunk?” Kageyama mutters. He is about to pull away when Tsukishima curls his fingers on the front of Kageyama’s shirt.

“Want... you,” Tsukishima pouts and he giggles again when Kageyama lets out another exasperated groan.

Kageyama indulges in his drunk boyfriend because he simply cannot say no to Tsukishima, especially when he is being all adorable and giggly. Their kisses are fuelled by alcohol and teenage hormones as they make out and Kageyama really thinks that he should be the sober responsible one but all that caution is thrown out the window because it is too hot to think of how to be the sober responsible one when he has Tsukishima climbing into his lap.

Surprisingly, Tsukishima is an even better kisser when drunk and Kageyama finds himself getting intoxicated by tongue, teeth and lips. Tsukishima’s naughty hands start to wander underneath Kageyama’s shirt and the raven-haired boy curses in his head because he needs to be the sober responsible one _goddammit_.

“Kei, baby, we need to stop,” Kageyama tells him breathlessly, forcing himself to pull away while Tsukishima chases after his lips. “If we keep going I don’t think I can stop and I don’t want to take advantage of you when you’re drunk.”

Tsukishima blinks his big amber eyes at him ( _So. Fucking. Cute._ ) and eventually peels his hands away from Kageyama. The latter thinks of sneakers with holes, modern literature passages and deflated volleyballs before taking a deep breath and pulling away from Tsukishima.

He uncaps the bottle of water and hands it over to the golden-haired boy, who quietly drinks it up. Tsukishima continues to stare at the floor, still holding the bottle of water and looking very much dazed. Perhaps Kageyama understands now why people prefer to not be the sober one in the friend group so he takes his half-drunk bottle of cider and continues to sip on it.

“Can we still cuddle?” Tsukishima asks in a small voice and Kageyama gives it a thought before deciding that maybe there is no harm in cuddling.

Kageyama lays out the futon and settles them down, finding a comfortable position to lie. Kei has taken to snuggling himself against Kageyama’s chest, making himself as small as possible despite being a 1.9 metres tall teenager. In return, Kageyama loops an arm around him and kisses the top of his head. They lay like that for a while, Tsukishima’s soft hair tickling Kageyama’s nose while Kageyama hums the song which they had been singing in the other room earlier. He still remembers the lyrics because Miwa used to watch the drama when they were staying over at their grandfather’s place.

“You sing better than me,” Tsukishima mumbles against his chest.

Kageyama chuckles, “That was barely singing.”

Tsukishima lifts his head to look at Kageyama. “I like it.”

His candidness makes Kageyama laugh and the latter lightly squeezes him in his arms. Tsukishima wraps his arms around Kageyama, looking at him with a fond expression. “I like that you’re laughing,” he says. “You’ve been out of it the whole day.”

Amber eyes gaze at him with a bit more focus and it amuses Kageyama how fast Tsukishima sobers up. “So you’ve been watching me,” he says.

Tsukishima brushes back the bangs from his face, his tender touches a contrast from earlier. “Are you still thinking about your parents?”

“Mmhmm,” Kageyama hums, holding his gaze. “Every single thing we passed by today reminded me of them.”

“I just keep hoping for a miracle to happen so that my parents don’t have to divorce and we can all keep going with our lives again.”

Tsukishima looks at him with a confused expression. “But you have kept going with your life,” he points out. “It’s not like you’re changing your plans or putting anything on pause. Change has always been happening but you always take them on and move forward too.”

Maybe drunk Tsukishima makes some sense, or maybe it is the alcohol in his system, but Kageyama feels that what he had just heard may be tonight’s breakthrough. Perhaps anomalies are okay too if it helps him to move on.

He spots his phone on the table, next to the empty bottle of cider, and he decides that tonight he will make a call.

* * *

The dial tone indicates that the number he is calling is currently overseas and Kageyama knows that much is true. He grips the phone tightly to his ear, listening to the rings just in case it gets picked up when he least expects it to. Tsukishima has his head tucked underneath Kageyama’s chin, his whole weight on top of Kageyama as he is too drunk to even move. He can only see the top of Tsukishima’s golden head but he knows that the latter is still awake by how still he is, lying on top of him. He is nervous for Kageyama too.

The dial tone gets cut off and it is replaced by white noise and a clear, “Hello, Sato Yui speaking.”

Kageyama does not even realise that he is holding his breath until he parts his lips to exhale. “Mama? It’s Tobio.”

“Oh, Tobio?” his mother’s voice is genuinely surprised. “Why are you calling? Did something happen? Are you okay?”

“Mama, calm down. I’m okay,” Kageyama huffs, his face burning at his mother’s incessant worrying. “I just… wanted to call you…”

He hears his mother take in a breath before she lets out a relieved chuckle. “Oh, is that so?”

“Mmhmm,” Kageyama hums, his free hand moving up and down Tsukishima’s back. He hears the latter let out an involuntary sigh. “Umm... Are you well?”

His mother laughs and he bites his lip at the fondness in her laughter. “Yes I am, sweetheart. Thank you for asking.”

“Ah… That’s good,” Kageyama replies quietly. His lips are so dry and his head is running blank. He rarely has phone calls with his family members, opting to text instead. Being on the phone with his mother is something completely new for Kageyama.

They are both quiet for a moment, both unfamiliar with how to go on with the phone call.

“Is there a reason why you’re calling, love?” his mother asks, breaking the silence.

Kageyama clears his throat. “Ummm... Yeah. I wanted to tell you that I made it to the National team.”

He can hear his mother gasp on the other line, genuine surprise and excitement in her voice. “Oh, that’s wonderful! You’ve worked so hard, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you!”

Kageyama smiles, feeling his heart swell at her words. “Thank you, Mama. I had some amazing people help me out along the way,” he replies, gazing at a now calmer Tsukishima.

“Have you told your father yet?” his mother asks.

He chews on his lip as he ponders the question, even though he knows what he should respond with. “Umm... I haven’t.”

“I actually wanted to tell the both of you together but… I don’t know if…” he bites his lip before he can finish the sentence. His mother must have sensed what he wanted to say because she is quiet as well.

“I’m sorry, Tobio,” his mother says in a gentle voice. “I wished there could’ve been a better way too but your father and I realised that this was the best.” 

“It’s… okay. You did what you could,” Kageyama replies, staring up at the ceiling and biting his lip again.

He hears his mother try to hide a sniffle on her end. “I’m so proud of the person you’ve become, Tobio. I know your father and I weren’t around much and it wasn’t easy after your grandfather passed away, but you’ve bloomed so much,” his mother tells him. “Every single day I regret not being able to see you grow up to be someone so kind and hardworking. I’m very sure Kazuyo would have been so proud of you too.”

Kageyama breaks at that, letting the tears stream down his cheeks at the mention of his grandfather’s name. He covers the receiver to sniffle and wipe his tears before returning it back to his ear. “You did what you had to, Mama.”

He can tell that his mother is smiling as she whispers, “I love you, my son.”

They are simple words but Kageyama feels so overcome by emotions that he starts to cry again. He hastily rubs at his eyes with his sleeve so that his mother does not suspect anything. “Can we go out together before my training starts?” he asks.

His mother laughs. “Of course. I’ll be back in Japan next week so I’ll see you at home.”

 _Home_. “See you then,” Kageyama replies.

He is about to end the call when he remembers something. “Mama?”

“Hmm?” comes his mother’s reply.

“Thank you… for trying… I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else as my mother. I love you.”

He quickly hangs up the call, his face red from crying and letting out his feelings. He must have caught his mother by surprise but he knows that she is probably emotional too from the call.

Tsukishima has lifted his head from Kageyama’s chest by then and when he puts down his phone, Tsukishima immediately cups his face and peppers kisses all over his eyelids.

“You did good, Tobio. You’re so brave,” Tsukishima whispers against his eyelids, his words still slurring from the alcohol.

It feels as if the clouds in his head have cleared up and he can feel every bit of the warm love he receives in every bone in his body. Kageyama cannot help but smile as he feels this overwhelming need to let Tsukishima into the walls he has built up over the years – because he is accepting change and he is moving on.

“I love you, Kei.”

Tsukishima stills in his arms and pulls away, immediately sober again. “What did you say?”

Kageyama holds his gaze, staring into his beautiful amber eyes. “I said I love you.”

The boy in his arms does not say anything, merely smiling and leaning in to kiss him. “Say it again.”

“I love you, Tsukishima Kei,” Kageyama says against Tsukishima’s lips, mouthing against the curve of his smile and kissing the giggles coming out from him. “You’re supposed to say it back.”

“You already know what I’d say,” Tsukishima replies.

“But I want to hear you say it,” Kageyama insists, sitting up so that he can look at Tsukishima properly while he is in his lap.

Tsukishima mumbles something but Kageyama bites down on his lower lip, causing him to giggle again.

“I love you too, Kageyama Tobio,” Tsukishima finally says, pulling away to press their foreheads together. “There. Are you happy now?”

He thinks about Hinata playing the guitar, Yachi with flowers in her hair, Yamaguchi under Dotonbori’s neon lights and looks at Tsukishima in his arms.

Kageyama smiles. He has never been happier than he is now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> glossary:  
> omamori - japanese lucky charms! here's a really interesting read about [omamoris](https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2015/05/japanese-lucky-charms-the-guide-to-omamori/)  
> Konayuki - [Konayuki by Remioromen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtZgUoEeeXY) is a song from the movie/tv series 1 litre of tears. yea I know it's a sad song but I think it's very sing-along-drunk-with-your-mates vibes haha
> 
> hello it has been months!!! thank you for still keeping up with the ot5 gang on their grad trip!!! ; - ; this chapter turned out to be longer than i intended it to be but i think I'm quite happy with how it turned out! I hope that you enjoyed reading it too :)  
> next up is yachi's chapter to wrap things up. hope you guys can bear with me for awhile longer heh : ' )
> 
> stay warm and remember to be socially responsible! ♡


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